


Everyday Senshi Life

by A Kiss of Fire (TigerDragon), TiaNadiezja



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon Crystal - Fandom
Genre: Adulthood, Co-workers, Devotion, Dirty Magazines, Employment Blues, Engagement, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Growing Up, Loneliness, Oral Sex, Sailor Not Appearing In This Chapter, Secret Crush, Sexual Content, workplace drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 13:17:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2623136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerDragon/pseuds/A%20Kiss%20of%20Fire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiaNadiezja/pseuds/TiaNadiezja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up is hard. Growing up to be the Queen of the World is a fair bit harder. But sometimes things aren’t as dark as they seem, and the pure joys of youth can shine in a practical world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, we don’t own Sailor Moon or any of the associated IPs. Please not to sue, etc. Our primary point of reference for this story is Sailor Moon Crystal and the manga in English translation, so fans who grew up with the subtitled or dubbed anime may notice some differences in character interpretation. Some of that is us, but most of it is in the original text.
> 
>  **A Note on Language:** Even though we’re writing in English, the characters in this story live in Tokyo and speak (and think) in Japanese. Whenever possible, we’ve tried to get the sense of what would be said in Japanese across in the tone and structure of our dialogue and descriptions. Sometimes this lead to us building sentences in a way that sounds a little usual in English, but we hope the effect was worth it. When we’ve encountered a term that genuinely doesn’t translate properly or is too iconic in Japanese not to use (e.g. Itadakemasu), we’ve rendered it directly into romaji. Similarly, we use honorifics in this text for dramatic effect and to convey information to the reader rather than in the strictly proper way they would be used in actual Japanese conversation.
> 
> P.S from A Kiss of Fire (Dragon): I've always, always hated the word chopsticks. Don't ask me why - it's a whole linguistic colonialism thing. So they're _hashi_ in this fic, because I can.

_Why does morning come every day?_ Usagi Tsukino lifted her head enough to glare at her alarm clock. It remained unmoved in spite of the fact that it was demanding she get up at five in the morning, and she wanted nothing so much as to bury her head in her pillow and go back to sleep. It was easier when Mamoru was there with her to wake her instead of her alarm clock, and the winter cold outside only made getting up more unappealing.

Sleep was definitely the way to go. She reached for her pillow and pulled it over her head. _Your rice will burn if you do that,_ her mother’s voice sighed, and after a minute or two more of silent complaints she pulled the covers back and sat up. The polished wood floor was cold under her feet, and she whimpered in a way that wasn’t at all lady-like while she picked her way over to her dresser and extracted her socks, then shed and hung up her nighty before she carefully pulled on her leggings, her dress and her sweater. A quick check with her hands assured her than her odangos were still in place, and she started down the stairs to the kitchen still muttering softly about the cold.

Her rice was cooked for the day, and it smelled delicious. She had to remind herself that eating it right now was not acceptable behavior either. On the other hand, Mamoru wasn’t home - instant miso and microwaved bacon were the order of the day.

“You’re going to at least make eggs,” Luna said from her place on the table. “Him not being home isn’t an excuse to fall entirely into disrepair.”

“You just want eggs,” Usagi grumbled, already opening her refrigerator again. “I ought to make you go back to eating cat food like my mother did.”

“That’s never going to happen,” Luna replied, leaping across to the counter. “I do want eggs, but that’s entirely beside the point.”

 _Why does she make a poor, innocent girl like me make eggs when I don’t want to?_ Usagi’s appeal to the ceiling failed to produce any answers, but at least the eggs cooked quickly. Luna’s glaring stopped her from just grabbing two bowls and throwing everything in together, so she dutifully took down the small plates and trays and carefully served herself and the cat - bacon and eggs each on their own small plate. Under the circumstances, though, she felt justified ignoring Luna’s meows of protest when she put her own rice in a bowl and put the soy sauce right over it.

“ _Itadakemasu_ ,” she told her empty dining room as she picked up her _hashi_.

“You are the very worst,” Luna said between bites of bacon, carefully cleaning her paws as she ate. “But at least you won’t be late to work today.”

“Luuuuna,” Usagi sighed, hunching her shoulders and poking at her rice with her _hashi_ , “I haven’t been late to work at Junes once. Not once. Not in a year!”

“You wake up to see him. And when you don’t, I have to make enough noise to wake the neighbors to get you out of bed,” Luna replied. “I ordered milk for delivery, so you don’t need to shop before work.”

“Thank you, Luna,” Usagi mumbled through her bacon.

Clearing the table and washing up was the same as it always was, but sadder because she couldn’t still feel Mamoru’s good-morning-and-goodbye kiss on her lips while she did it. She made sure to make a fresh bento for him and write a quick note to put in it just in case he came home for lunch, then put it in the fridge next to hers while she snagged her broom and set about sweeping up. That always made her a little bit happy, the rhythm and the motion and the clearly visible results of it, but she took longer at it than maybe she should have and a look at the clock told her that laundry would have to wait until she got home from work. She settled for scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom down, then headed upstairs to change into her uniform.

The neat white shirt and black jacket with matching skirt made her smile just putting them on, even if it was a little chilly, and she tucked her hat and her white gloves into her bag next to her manga and Walkman. Leggings went back on over her stockings, the Juban pin went neatly in her lapel, her Eternal Moon broach and her disguise pen went into her inside pockets with the new handkerchief Mamoru had bought her for their anniversary, and she stopped at her mirror just long enough to check herself over and decide she was satisfied before starting down the steps.

“ _Ittekimasu_ , Luna!” she called as she fished her coat, scarf, winter gloves and hat out of the wardrobe by the door.

“Usagi! Your lunch!” Luna was beside her, holding the bento box by the knot of the cloth wrapped around it and somehow talking past it. “You don’t want to go hungry.”

“Thank you, Luna.” Usagi crouched down to grab it, scratching Luna’s ears in the process, then stepped into her heels and let herself out the front door. _You’re such an idiot_ , she told herself while she bundled up in her winter clothes, put her bag over one shoulder and held tight to her lunch purse. _When you become queen someday, they’re going to find important documents just sitting on tables._

It was too nice a day to stay unhappy, even as cold as it was, and she walked down the street toward the Ginza line station with a smile on her face. Every neighbor she passed got the _aisatsu_ they deserved, and she chatted for a minute or two with the girl at the newsstand at the station - her brother was finally getting married, which was very good, but her grandmother was ailing and her father-in-law was working long hours - before she had to scramble her way onto her train with a few unladylike elbows to make room for herself. One of the junior high girls leaning against the strap in front of her was trying to read a science textbook, and Usagi almost laughed because it made her think so strongly of Ami.

She hadn’t seen Ami in weeks - studies for both school and entrance exams, a few brief extracurriculars and sleep seemed to eat all of her friend’s time. When they’d spoken on the phone over the weekend, Ami had sounded exhausted and exhilarated, a girl so deep in her element that she might forget to come up for air. Usagi worried about her a little, but the bright glow of pride was stronger. Ami was going to get into the best medical school, no question. That was what mattered.

The train pulled up at Ginza station and Usagi stumbled along with the crowd, keeping her grip on her bag and her lunchpurse as they climbed up the stairs and onto the busy morning street. She walked quickly, very conscious that she was moving among people who might be customers today, and went in through the west entrance with a quick flash of her badge to the security man and a friendly good morning. He had a nice smile when he smiled back - she would have remembered seeing it before, so he must be new - but she was in a hurry and didn’t have time to meet him properly. She took the elevator up to the third floor, hustled into the staff room to hang up her coat and scarf - hat and gloves into pockets - before getting out her beret and her white gloves to straighten them.

“Usagi-san… good morning,” Rie Honda said from near the shelf where she was storing her lunch. Only a hair taller than Usagi, with a long braid and bright, hazel-flecked eyes behind her glasses, Rie waved happily. “I wasn’t sure if you were in today. The schedule seems to have wandered off.”

“That’s unfortunate. I hope that it comes back soon,” Usagi replied, smiling brightly as she put her own lunch next to Rie’s. “Your hair clip is very pretty today.”

She and Rie both were walking exceptions to the normal Junes preference for short hair - hair as long as either of theirs was seen as interfering with the proper bows that were so important to correct service - but Noriko Hisakawa was a little eccentric and her department very successful, so they were allowed to get on with their jobs without interference. They also sold more than anyone else in the department, which may have had something to do with it.

“Good morning, Tsukino. Honda.” As if thinking of her summoned her, Noriko was at their side, walking with them toward the sales floor. She was tall, her hair kept in a proper Junes bun, her eyes as intense as her smile was honest. “There’s a sale today and tomorrow on some of the shoes in our section. You’ll want to warn the stock girls to keep the shelves filled.”

“Yes, Hisakawa-san!” Usagi bounced a couple of steps - Noriko always raised her morale just by her firm leadership. “We’ll make sure everything goes smoothly. Please don’t be concerned.”

“I know you will.” Noriko glanced around to make sure none of the other managers saw, then winked. “I have a meeting until noon, then I’ll be on the floor. Take care.”

Usagi waited until they were further up the floor, then turned back to Rie. “Noriko-san is so cool,” she gushed happily. “It’s so nice to work for her. She always makes me want to do the best job I can and be just like her when I grow up.”

“I was nearly placed in Cosmetics when I was hired… if someone in Clothing hadn’t gotten sick I would have been working for Ueda-san.” Rie made a face, as though she had bitten into an apple and found it sour as a lemon.

“Ueda-san isn’t so bad. He’s very nice. He just needs more resolve,” Usagi objected. “Though knowing more about perfumes or make-up would also be useful for him.”

“He talks about fishing. Constantly. I don’t know how he ended up at the cosmetics counter,” Rie replied, shaking her head.

“Yes,” Usagi admitted, “he would perhaps be happier in another department.” She stopped in front of her station, taking a moment to just stop and admire the gorgeous Burberry coats, scarves, knitwear and boots that filled her display. Everything in its place, just how it should be and just how she left it. It gave her a little glow of pride to know that she’d done that - lazy, crybaby, messy Usagi Tsukino - and she bounced on her heels for a moment in sheer delight.

“Time to get to work,” Rie said, seeming to catch some of Usagi’s enthusiasm. “The moment the doors open, I’m going to be swarmed.” She glanced toward the signs declaring the shoe sale on her rack. “I’ll call you if I need backup.”

“I’ll come running,” Usagi promised, then giggled. “Not actually running. We’re not allowed to run. But I will walk with great dignity and speed to save you, Rie.”

“You’re the best,” Rie said with a wide smile before walking quickly to the shoes. Usagi looked after her for a moment, admiring how gracefully Rie walked in her heels, then straightened herself up beside her display and folded her hands. The clock said it was almost time, and everyone else would be in place, and she didn’t want to say it late. That was always so embarrassing.

Ten o’clock. The front doors opened. She filled her lungs and smiled.

“ _Irasshaimase_!”

* * *

 “It really is a beautiful coat,” Usagi enthused as she applied the wrapping to the last of the boxes in front of her with more care than talent. _Don’t rip the paper. Don’t rip the paper. Ribbon. Don’t twist the ribbon, either._ “And the boots are very impressive. I think they’ll look amazing on you. Are you sure that you don’t want to leave the scarf with us to be monogrammed? It would be a pleasure for us.”

“I need to wear the scarf tonight,” the woman - a middle-aged career woman named Megumi Fujimoto - said noncommittally. “It would be inconvenient not to have it. Can I return to do so later?”

“Of course. We would be happy to do it at any time, Fujimoto-sama.” That would require a note to the tailoring department, but Usagi was happy to do that. It wasn’t fair that Megumi shouldn’t be able to have her scarf monographed just because she had to wear it tonight.

“Thank you,” Megumi said, her relief exceeding that expected for the answer alone. “I’ll be going now. Thank you, Tsukino.”

“Of course! Please come again at any time.” Usagi put the wrapped boxes carefully into the store bag and then offered it with both hands as she bowed to the older woman. “I was very happy to serve you. Enjoy your party!”

Megumi smiled in spite of herself, taking the bag and backing away before starting for the store’s exit. Usagi watched her go, then turned back to her station and straightened a few scarves a fraction of a centimeter while she hummed happily to herself. Megumi was going to look so _lovely_ in that coat and those boots and that scarf!

“Tsukino,” Noriko’s voice said from the other side of the rack. “If you haven’t already eaten your lunch, it’s time for your break. I’ll take your section.”

Usagi blushed and laughed, hand going automatically to the back of her head in embarrassment. “It’s a little.... I mean, yes, Hisakawa-san. Thank you. I will return shortly.”

“Don’t rush too much,” Noriko replied. “Enjoy your lunch.”

“Thank you.” Usagi bowed quickly and then did her best not to rush back to the break room. It wasn’t proper, and it wasn’t like her bentos were a surprise anymore now that she made them. She missed that sometimes - the little thrill of waiting to find out what was in her lunch made the anticipation for the first bite better. Still, it was lunch time and she was hungry!

Miyako Inoue sat at the table, eating a small hamburger warmed up in the microwave. She was Usagi’s age, around Rei’s height, her hair cut to a short bob. That was a shame - she had a lovely face, and long hair would frame it much better. She smiled as Usagi came in. “Hello, Tsukino-san.”

“Inoue-san!” Usagi scooped her bento off the shelf next to Rie’s and flounced down into a chair with a smile on her face as she started opening her lunch purse. “Bento!”

“I got a burger and fries,” Miyako replied. “I like them, and I overslept this morning… I was up too late at my other job.” Ah, yes, the mysterious other job. Of course, Usagi wasn’t really in a position to complain. She ran her fingertip inside her jacket to check her compact was still there, then unlocked her bento box - smiling at her cute stickers - and extracted her _hashi_.

“ _Itadakemasu!_ ” she declared, then took a bite of her chicken and chewed carefully. She’d overflavored it a little, but it was still good. “It must be...” she started, then blushed and made herself finish eating her bite before speaking. “Your job must be very strenuous. I’m sorry to hear that you’re tired.”

Miyako dipped one of her fries in ranch before taking a dainty bite. “It is tiring,” she admitted. “But not unpleasant.”

Usagi tried not to stare at the fries. It was rude, even if they looked soooo tasty. She tried nibbling on a carrot flower which was definitely more modern art than realist.

No, she was still staring. The blush of embarrassment started to come back.

“Would you like some fries, Tsukino-san?” Miyako asked after a moment, pushing her plate a bit closer to Usagi.

“I couldn’t possibly,” Usagi said at about the same time her hand snaked out and took five of them because four was an unlucky number. She bit her lip and smiled a little crookedly at Miyako. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Miyako said. “You’re the hardest girl in the world not to be happy with, you know?”

“Thank you!” Usagi blushed - with delight, this time - while she downed the fries. “I like to make people happy. I think the world is better when everyone is happy, and it always makes me sad to see people feeling lonely or not believing in happiness.”

Okay, she might have had one or two more fries. Somewhere Luna was glaring at her.

“You make it easier, to believe in happiness,” Miyako admitted, taking a bite of her burger. “And if the price of that is a few fries, I’ll gladly pay it.”

“Thank you.” Usagi smiled brightly. “There’s a cute new security guard on the morning shift. Did you see him when you came in?”

“I did,” Miyako said. “The one with the nice smile? I was thinking you’d probably like him when I saw him.”

“Well, I mean, _I_ don’t like him.” Usagi blushed and smiled, finger stroking over the back of the ring on her finger. “But I think a girl could like him. He has a very kind smile.”

“He does. Which might not be the best qualification for a security guard, but I prefer them to have kind smiles.”

“A kind smile can still come with a firm heart,” Usagi said, thinking of Makoto and burying a sigh. She could sneak out and call any of her friends with her communicator during lunch, but it always seemed so rude because they were always busy when she called. Makoto had her own business now, a piece of her dream, and no one worked harder than a woman who worked for herself.

“A frown doesn’t suit you, Tsukino-san, no matter how well you’re hiding it,” Miyako said as she reached for the last few fries.

“No, no, it’s just that I was thinking about old things and how sometimes things - good things - are different than you’d expect them to be, that sometimes you think things will be the same way forever and ever but they aren’t because... um...” Usagi poked her bento and chewed her lip, but was saved from having to say more by a knock at the break room door. She bounced to her feet. “I’ll get it!”

One of the older security guards was there when she opened it, escorting Golgol Orlov. Noriko’s husband was a tall, broad man - excessively tall, by some standards, even a little taller than her Mamo-chan. People were often frightened by him, until they saw him smile. He kept house for his wife, and the few times Usagi had seen the two of them together - stolen moments when he visited to drop things off to her or ask her what needed to be picked up - it was obvious how much they adored one another. Today, he was carrying a bento box that looked tiny in his large hand. “Tsukino. Inuoue.” He held up the lunchbox. “Just here to drop this off.” His Japanese was occasionally halting - nearly two decades in the country hadn’t quite cleared away his discomfort with the language in general.

“Hisakawa-san!” Usagi greeted him with a smile, waving to the security guard and taking the box and giving him a quick hug all at once. “Hisakawa-sama will be so happy to see you! May I please go and tell her that you’re here?”

He returned the hug with both the energy of a man legitimately delighted to see her and the hesitance of someone a little afraid he might break her. “Of course. As long as you don’t tell Hisa-san.” The store manager had a strong opinion on the matters of visits and extra breaks.

“Uh-uh.” Usagi made a shushing gesture, eyes twinkling, and took the big wooden bento box to the table so she could clean up her own and put it away before bounding for the door. _He must love her so much to work so hard on her bento. I bet it’s beautiful and delicious._ She had to work to moderate her pace to a determined walk, but finally arrived at her station to find Noriko bowing to a departing customer. “Hisakawa-san!” she greeted her with as much bubbly energy as she could fit into a whisper.

“Tsukino… is something wrong?” Noriko blinked at Usagi’s smile. “Or something is very, very right. What do you need?”

“Your husband is here. You forgot your lunch,” Usagi explained, stumbling into directness in her eagerness. “I told him I would tell you! He’s waiting in the break room with Miyako and Jirou-san who let him up. You should go see him.”

“I definitely should,” Noriko said, her eyes brightening. “Could you cover for a few minutes? You can take the rest of your lunch when I get back… I won’t be long.”

“Don’t rush too much,” Usagi replied, smiling a little impishly. “Enjoy your lunch.”

Noriko laughed, and walked away with all the dignity a thirty-two-year-old woman who was as giddy as a schoolgirl could muster. Usagi watched her go and somehow her smile turned achy and not as bright as she wished it was. _I wish I could take Mamo-chan his lunch when he can’t come home...._. For a few moments, her duties were the last thing she was thinking of - it was Mamoru’s firm, careful hands on her hips and how she had to lean up so far to kiss him and how he would smile to see her before he remembered to be upset she’d taken so much trouble.

Movement in the corner of her eye startled her, and she pivoted on reflex and called “Welcome! Please feel free to look around!” with her brightest smile.

The elderly woman who’d been moving toward her coats looked a little startled by the sudden vigor, and Usagi bowed to her deeply in an unspoken apology for her inattention. “We have many beautiful things today,” she began, finding the familiar structure of the words comforting as she dove into them. “How may we be of service to you?”

Still, part of her heart ached and refused to stop. 

* * *

The doors were closed and the customers were gone for the night - at least, the customers who weren’t up in restaurants upstairs eating - but the work wasn’t done. The girls who hadn’t been dismissed yet moved down the narrow ‘halls’ between their displays, checking the floor for anything that ought not be there and the displays for anything that ought to be somewhere else, and Usagi tried to focus her attention on the task instead of on the quiet growling in her stomach. She’d thought she packed enough in her bento to be full until she could go, but the sale had disordered things so that leaving was taking longer than usual and her stomach was more demanding than usual. She was mortifyingly sure that everyone else could hear it grumbling.

“Your racks look good, Tsukino, and you look exhausted,” Noriko said after taking a quick look over Usagi’s section. “And all I have left is some paperwork. Go home and get some rest.”

“Yes!” Usagi agreed in relief, then reminded herself to be polite. “I’m sorry to be leaving before you, Hisakawa-san.”

“Thank you for working so hard,” Noriko said with a smile. “And for your message earlier. Good-bye.”

“Good night!” Usagi moved off to the break room, maybe a little faster than was really proper, but she was smiling again. _Love and happiness triumph again! Sometimes being a guardian of love and justice is rewarding._ She said good night to each girl she passed until she was bundled up in her coat and carrying her bag and lunch purse, slipping out into the dark Ginza street and heading for the train station. It was late and the air brought a chilled flush to her cheeks, but she stamped her feet and tried to keep herself warm while she waited on the platform for the train to take her home. She checked the pager in her coat pocket for a message from Mamoru, found another quick apology in numbers and was suddenly pressing her face against her sleeve so that she wouldn’t cry on the platform. It wasn’t fair. She knew he had to study, that he would have come home if he could have, but the idea of going back to her apartment alone for another night by herself - cooking by herself, reading manga by herself, going to bed by herself - made her feel like throwing a childish tantrum.

The train pulled up, and she got on with her face still pressed into her hand. She meant to ride the train home - she did - but when she looked up with blurred eyes and saw the sign for Nihonbashi, she found herself pushing and stumbling her way out of the subway car and up the stairs until she was standing under the faint glow of the tall banks whose money was the heartblood of Japan. She took her handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her face very carefully, then started walking. Her heels echoed back to her on the mostly empty street as she went, still struggling to stop the well of tears, until she finally stopped in front of the narrow storefront with its neat gold kanji and green trim whose name always made her smile a little, even now: _Sincerity_.

The shades were drawn, but she could see light leaking around the edges and she knocked carefully on the door.

The curtain on the small window in the door was pushed aside for a moment, then the door opened. The warm air inside the shop rushed over Usagi, and Makoto was there, tugging her inside by both hands. She was wearing a dress, just thick enough to hold off the worst of the cold if she had to step outside for a moment but soft and feminine, and was covered ankles-to-neck in powdered sugar. “Usagi-chan… what are you doing here so late? It’s cold. Come in.” She kicked the door closed easily, and Usagi tightened her hands around Makoto’s until her fingers ached in her gloves. She tried to speak, found her throat stopped up, and finally managed a smile while she looked at the powdered sugar in Makoto’s hair and lightly streaking one cheek.

“Mako-chan,” she whispered, “you’re all messy.”

“I was trying something new. We got a deep fryer… then I dropped a bag of powdered sugar. Right after opening it.” Makoto laughed quietly, but didn’t release Usagi’s hands. “Once you’re warm I’ll make some for you.”

“Thank you, Mako-chan.” Usagi’s stomach rumbled loudly, and her cold cheeks flushed with aching warmth. “Ah...I’m just a bit...”

“Hungry,” Makoto said. “But not as hungry as you are cold. I’ve got some cocoa made.” She finally released Usagi’s hands. “Wait there.”

“Yes, Mako-chan,” Usagi agreed meekly, setting her bag and her lunchpurse down and then folding her hands.

Makoto rose to her feet, walking from the room. Even her concern for Usagi couldn’t mask her happiness, or the ways she’d grown into herself - the elegantly quiet walk, the subtle sway of her hips. She poured two cups of cocoa and added whipped cream and cherries before returning to the table, placing one before Usagi. “Drink up, while it’s warm.”

“Yes,” Usagi said again, carefully taking off her gloves as she sat down and folding her cold fingers around the warmth of the cup. Her cheeks stung in the warm air inside the shop, and she could feel she was going to start to shiver soon, so she did her best to drink both quickly and neatly.

She managed one but not the other and had to blushingly scoop up a napkin to wipe whipped cream off her face. Makoto laughed quietly at that, reaching out to take the napkin and clean a bit Usagi missed. “There you are.”

“Yes,” she said once more, a whisper of a breath this time, and her face burned softly. “Thank you, Mako-chan.”

“Are you warm now?” Makoto asked, leaning back and tucking the napkin away.

“Yes,” Usagi stumbled out, her own tongue-tied compliance suddenly mixing a tremble in with the shiver of her body. “Yes, I am.”

“Good,” Makoto said, nodding her approval, not quite unaware of the effect of her easy intimacy on Usagi and not trying to hide her satisfaction. “I’m glad.”

“I should go home?” Usagi tried to explain, but the tremble seemed to have moved into her throat now. “Thank you, Mako-chan....”

“If you’re sure,” Makoto said, frowning a little. “I do need to prep some things for tomorrow. Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Usagi said, finding the firmness in her voice and tugging her gloves back on with a smile. “Yes, Mako-chan. I’m all right. Thank you for the hot chocolate; it was a very tiring day and very cold, and it was perfect. I don’t want to keep you from your preparation. Do a good job and have lots of happy customers tomorrow.”

“Take care, Usagi,” Makoto said, touching Usagi’s hand. “You should come by tomorrow morning. I’m making cheesecake, in addition to the new thing.”

“You make the best sweets, Makoto. If I can find time when I’m shopping, I promise I’ll come.” Usagi stood up, heart aching in her chest, and eased around the table enough to kiss Makoto lightly on the cheek. “Your dream is so real and perfect; it’s amazing.”

It was Makoto’s turn to blush, which she did quite demurely. “I’m so very happy, Usagi. I love it.”

Usagi only nodded, because she couldn’t speak. She gathered up her bag and her purse, tightened her coat’s belt a little and straightened her scarf and hat, then opened the door and stepped out. “See you, Makoto.”

“See you, Usagi.” Makoto locked the door behind Usagi, and for another moment Usagi stood looking at the door and hugging her lunchpurse against her chest. Finally, she convinced her feet to take her back through the dark streets and down into the subway station. The car was closer than usual to empty and she found a seat, bag and lunch purse carefully folded in her lap. For once, it wasn’t hard not to talk to people or look at what they were reading, and she took her Walkman headphones out of her bag and pressed play.

> _I'm gonna quit_   
> _Putting my hand to my chest at the end of each day_   
> _If I allow myself to give up_   
> _I won't even be able to say hello_
> 
> _There's a road that leads everywhere_   
> _Someday I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there_
> 
> _I've gotta find a way, so let me go_   
> _There's no use hurrying_   
> _Because baby I don't wanna cry_   
> _There's no time to stand around_   
> _I've gotta find a way, so let me go_   
> _I'm gonna go_   
> _Because baby I don't wanna cry_
> 
> _The world is overflowing with different faces and hearts_   
> _We divide people into friends and enemies and kill each other_   
> _If that's the only way_   
> _We can test each other_   
> _We'll become unable to protect_   
> _The ones we love or anything important to us_

She had tears in her eyes again and she fumbled the Walkman until she found the stop button, gloved fingers trembling. She didn’t even take her headphones off - just left them on in silence until the subway stopped at Kanda station and she got out onto the platform. She didn’t see anyone as she walked home - the wind had picked up and everyone was already inside - and the moon wasn’t shining. That was all right. That was more than all right.

Usagi hated for the moon to see her tears.

At her door, she stopped and took off her coat and her hat and her scarf before she took her keys in lightly trembling fingers and unlocked the door to let herself in. “I’m home,” she called softly into the dark of the house as eased out of her shoes and tried to brush the powdered sugar off her coat before she hung it up with her hat and gloves in the pocket, taking the pager out and clipping it to her skirt.

“Welcome home,” Luna called from the living room, where Usagi could see the warm glow of a computer monitor in the dark. “How was work?”

“Very productive. I tried hard. Hisakawa-san was pleased.” Usagi turned on a few lights and the heater as she walked around into the front room. She should have gone up and changed out of her uniform right then - it would be wrong to rumple it - but there was probably powdered sugar on it, so she’d have to wear her spare anyway until she could get it cleaned. She sank onto the couch, tucking her legs up under her, and pulled Mamo-chan’s favorite pillow up against her chest. Her voice sounded dull, even to her, but she couldn’t brighten it. “No monsters tonight?”

“No monsters,” Luna replied, jumping from the desk where she had been playing a game and into Usagi’s lap. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

Usagi bit her lip and nodded a little, fingers reluctantly unwinding from the pillow so she could scratch Luna’s neck and rub her side carefully. There weren’t any words in her, so she didn’t try to talk, but she made a determined effort not to cry again. She was sure she succeeded this time.

Luna purred quietly, curling in Usagi’s lap and closing her eyes. They stayed that way a little while, until Usagi’s stomach growled again. Luna glared at her gently and she sighed, smiling a little as she walked to her kitchen, but when she looked at the refrigerator and the cabinets she couldn’t convince herself that she wanted to cook any of it. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hungry - just that she didn’t want to eat. “I’ll do it later,” she told herself as much as Luna, and then started up the stairs to change and do some of her laundry. It would have been better to wait until the morning and then hang the clothes to dry in the sun, but it was already going to be hard enough to get up in the morning without that. Just this once she’d risk Amaterasu’s displeasure and use the dryer they’d gotten with the house.

It was as she was about to start the dryer that the doorbell went off - too loud by half, its normally cheerful sound reverberating through the house strongly enough to elicit a high screech from Luna. Usagi started the dryer with one hand, shut the closet door quickly, then called “Just a moment!” to the door and rushed upstairs to trade one of Mamoru’s shirts for a respectable kimono. There wasn’t time to do more than rush herself into something resembling decency, and she was embarrassed to know that her leggings didn’t at all match her kimono when she opened the door with a deep bow of apology. “Please forgive me and please come in!”

Her head nearly hit Makoto’s chest when she bowed, and the tall girl - who was wearing a long coat over a fresh dress - smiled to her gently. “I was the one who got sugar all over you.”

“Mako-chan!” Usagi stared at her in confusion for a moment, then hustled herself back out of the way so Makoto could close the door. She reached up to help Makoto out of her coat, letting Makoto pass the bags in her hands without needing to set them down, and hung it up herself while Makoto changed into house slippers. Her throat was too full of her heart to speak more than her friend’s name, so Usagi tried to show how happy she was to see her by guiding her out of the front hall toward the living room and then angling off to make tea.

“All right.” Makoto held up a small box with the Sincerity logo on the front. “I brought something. But we should wait a bit before we eat it.”

“Okay.” Usagi didn’t even think to ask why. Makoto was sitting in her living room and she was so full of energy suddenly that her day didn’t seem tiring at all. She heated water for the tea, arranging the leaves carefully in her best teapot and the cookies and jam and snacks around it, then poured and carried the tray out to the table in her living room. “ _Itadakemasu._ ”

“ _Itadakemasu_ ,” Luna and Makoto replied before Makoto took her teacup. “It was too quiet in the store, so I decided to visit. I hope it’s not an inconvenience.”

“No! No. It isn’t.” Usagi tried to keep the rush of emotion in her voice - the relief and the fear Makoto might leave - down as much as she could, but she still felt as though she might as well have written it on her face in neon marker. “I’m very happy you came, Mako-chan.”

“Then I’m happy to have come,” Makoto said, sipping her tea carefully.

 _I wish you would come more often_. The words stopped themselves against the back of Usagi’s teeth, and she tried to wash them down with her tea. Makoto looked so composed and elegant that it only made Usagi feel messier, and a guilty little part of her was aware of the sound of the dryer in the background - somehow immensely loud in her ears - that Makoto must be aware of. So embarrassing.

Somehow, in spite of the noise of the dryer, Makoto looked as though nothing was amiss in the house - that she was there with someone she cared for, drinking tea in a house more well-kept than this one was. Slowly, in spite of the nervous tension twisting around inside her, Usagi started to relax. Her tea was warm and Makoto’s nearness was reassuring in the immediate, tactile way that it always was. Sneaky cars, bullies, rogue baseballs, rampaging monsters - it didn’t matter what it was, because Makoto would always protect her. Always put herself between Usagi and anything that might hurt her.

Twice she’d died doing exactly that.

Usagi dropped her eyes to the floor, biting her lip and turning her teacup slowly in her hand. If Makoto was really lonely, of course she didn’t want her to be alone, but if that was just an excuse to check on Usagi, she would have to find a way to convince Makoto to go back to her shop so everything would be perfect tomorrow in Makoto’s dream-place.

Usagi’s worries were interrupted when the doorbell rang again, more quietly than the last time, and Makoto’s pensive look shifted to a smile. “I’ll get the door,” she said, pushing herself to her feet. Usagi opened her mouth to protest that it was her house and it would be horribly rude of her not to get her own door, but somehow nothing came out. Trying to argue with Mako-chan just seemed like trying to argue with the wind.

She sipped her tea instead and wondered who else would be coming by her house in the middle of the night. Mamoru would have called first, no matter what the stubborn little note of hope in her chest said.

Her question was answered when Makoto led Ami into the room. Ami had shed her coat, and was wearing a sleeveless blouse and a pair of jeans. She smiled to Usagi brightly, taking a place at the table. “Good evening.”

“Ami-chan?!?!” Usagi’s voice spiked to a pitch she’d mostly trained herself out of using, and she didn’t remember putting her tea down safely but she must have, because it didn’t wind up all over the couch or her floor when she flung her arms around Ami.

Ami blinked and blushed but threw her arms around Usagi tightly, stroking her hair as she tugged Usagi close. “You’ll be all right,” she whispered quietly, breath warm against Usagi’s ear.

It was like taking a stopper out of a bottle - as soon as Ami’s arms were around her, tears flooded down Usagi’s cheeks and she was burying her face in the soft blue of Ami’s short-cut hair. “Ami-chan,” she whispered, voice trembling and almost frantic. “Ami-chan, Ami-chan.”

“I’m here.” Somewhere else in the room, Luna and Makoto were having a conversation, but that was far less important. “I’m not leaving. I’m here.”

“I’m being stupid,” Usagi whimpered into the smell of her. “Childish. Not responsible.”

“You’re lonely,” Ami whispered into her ear, stroking her back gently. “We’ve missed you too. I’ve missed you too.”

“I’ve missed everyone.” The confession spilled out of her, words she couldn’t stop and didn’t even know how to try, words she shouldn’t have been thinking but was. “Everyone is so busy and so happy because they’re living their dreams and I’m so happy for them but I miss the way it was, the way we ate and studied and talked and walked together. I miss everyone and I just want the world to go away so we can all be together all the time, every day, and I know I’m being a ridiculous crybaby and it’s not so bad when Mamo-chan’s here to hold me but he’s gone so much studying now for his fourth-year exams and his hospital internship that everything feels empty and cold and I hate it.”

“Usagi,” Ami breathed, kissing her forehead. “You know I smile half as much without you there, right?”

“You should smile a lot,” Usagi sniffled, brushing a hand over Ami’s soft cheek while she tucked her own legs up under herself. “You have a kind, strong, wise smile.”

“Then I should come see you more often,” Ami said, drawing Usagi closer. “Can we stay tonight?”

“Please.” Usagi trembled with memory - fingers wound with hers, soft breathing in the dark, five hearts sharing the same beat - and squeezed Ami’s hand tightly. “Please.”

“I can’t imagine not,” Ami whispered, breath warm against Usagi’s lips.

Usagi didn’t mean to kiss the corner of Ami’s mouth. Truly, she didn’t - it just happened. But the clinging to Ami like she was the only solid thing in the world, that she might have done a little bit on purpose. Ami’s breath caught in her throat, and she tightened her arms almost painfully around Usagi.

Usagi didn’t complain then, and she didn’t complain when Makoto’s reassuring weight pressed against her back and strong arms wrapped around her hips. “Minna,” she whispered, shivering with emotion and warmth at their nearness, not lonely or cold or trying to be brave at all.

Her stomach growled loudly and she buried a squeak of humiliation in Makoto’s shoulder.

“I think now we can have what I brought,” Makoto said softly, glancing toward the table, where Luna was probing the box carefully with her nose.

“Yes,” Usagi agreed softly, turning herself around to reach for it without pulling away from the warmth of her friends. She slit the paper carefully with her nails, then opened the lid and peeked inside.

Her squeal of delight probably woke half the neighborhood. “MAKO-CHAN!!!!!!”

Luna, far too close to Usagi’s head for anything resembling comfort, had to be dislodged from the ceiling before they could eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the curious, we borrowed the Junes department store from the _Persona_ series ( _Persona 4_ in particular). Additional credit/thanks go out to Namie Amuro for “Don’t Wanna Cry,” quoted at length here, which happens to have been a hit at the right time for this story. Which, yes, dates it pretty closely for those of you willing to track down when the single was current. :).


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Cultural and language notes:** For those who don't know, the magazines _Ciao_ and _Ribon_ are probably the most prominent publications that specialize in the _shoujo_ genre. Usagi happens to be a fan, and serials that appear in both magazines around the time of this story will be mentioned repeatedly. 
> 
> Also important for reading this chapter is knowing about the word _chotto_ , which in Japanese translates literally into "a little." It not only serves as a description, but also as a common softening phrase (i.e. "Can I just look at that?" or "Can you wait just a moment?") and as a polite way of refusing, signaling embarrassed agreement or generally avoiding making a direct statement about something. We've gone ahead and translated its usage here, but when you hear a character use the phrase "a little" during this chapter, keep _chotto_ in mind.

_“You know that hiding up a tree isn’t going to get you out of your lessons, don’t you?”_

_High in the boughs of a silverleaf tree, a pair of blue eyes peered out from the leaves and caught the Earthlight spilling through the early morning. “Your imagination is playing tricks on you, honored guardian. The Princess Serenity is obviously elsewhere. I’m just a humble silverleaf.”_

_Sighing and folding her arms, the young princess of Venus whose gown gleamed like sunrise visibly smothered the urge to smile. “That’s very unfortunate. If I don’t find Her Royal Highness Serenity in time for her lessons with Princess Mercury, Her Imperial Majesty Serenity is going to be very unhappy with me. I’m not much of a guardian if I can’t keep track of one girl for her, am I? So if you could possibly tell me where to find our beloved princess, kind silverleaf, it would be greatly appreciated.”_

_“I’m not sure.” Tugging strands of soft golden hair out of her face, careless of her white gown, the crown princess of the Kingdom of the Moon - and, indeed, of the whole empire of the Silver Millennium - chewed on her lip and squirmed guiltily. “I think she could be tempted to appear with some sweets, Princess Venus.”_

_“Oh, I just bet she could. I’ll just weave a trap of golden vine for her, set a cake in the midst of it and wait in the bushes. But if I spoil her appetite for the reception this afternoon, I’ll be in trouble as well. Such a dilemma....”_

_Serenity tried to smother her laughter, her slim frame shaking with it, and then cried out as she felt her balance slip. For a terrifying moment she was falling, and then slim strong arms were around her as the captain of her guardians caught in her mid-leap and landed them both safely._

_“My golden general,” she whispered, her arms tight around Venus’s neck, trembles of fear slowly leaving her as she looked up into the blue eyes that were so much like her own. “I suppose I have to go to my lessons after all, now that you’ve caught me....”_

_Their mingled laughter was still dancing in the first rosy fingers of sunrise when her guardian bent to kiss her._

Winter sunlight through the window woke her, and when she fumbled for a pillow to pull over her head she found the edge of the futon instead. It smelled of roses and spices, so strongly that she blushed at the familiarity. _Mako-chan._

No strong arms slid around her, and she sat up and opened her eyes. No sign of Makoto except a few dark brown strands of hair clinging to the futons, but Ami was there. Her blue hair was flared out on the pillow, reflecting the morning sunlight like a sky in her bed, and she had the blanket pulled up to her neck, one corner tugged out of place to reveal the strap of a black bra. Her breathing was slow, her eyes closed, her lips curled in a smile - whatever dream she was having was a happy one. Seeing her that way, happy and asleep, made Usagi smile with her whole heart.

It had been a good night. They’d eaten together and watched OAVs together and then come up stairs and gone to sleep on the floor with their futons shoved together the way they’d slept before high school, before Nehelenia and Galactica. Before.

 _Idiot. Wishing won’t make time run backward,_ she told herself as she carefully worked her way out of the futon and picked her way across the cold floor and letting herself out into the hall. She padded down the stairs, feet and fingertips cold but her heart warm, and she turned on the heaters as she went.

Breakfast in covered trays sat on the table waiting for her, and she brushed her fingertips over them carefully as her smile tried to grow even wider. _Makoto. Always taking care of things._ She plucked the small envelope in the middle of the table up and opened it, sliding the paper inside out and unfolding it carefully.

 

> Usagi-chan,
> 
> I am sorry to have to leave before you woke up. It was hard… you and Ami-san were so cute curled up together! I had a wonderful night. Remember that as much as you miss us, we miss you.
> 
> All love,  
> Makoto

_Mako-chan._ Usagi pressed an impulsive kiss to the paper, then set it down and started to warm water for tea. Ami would want it when she first got up - she always did - and then they could have breakfast together.

There was a quiet, feline yawn from the counter. “You’re up before your alarm. Did you sleep well?”

“Very well,” Usagi murmured, reaching over to scratch Luna’s ears gently. “And my alarm would have been for five if I had remembered to set one. Did you set one for me?”

“I always do,” Luna said, nuzzling Usagi’s hand, certain to press her cheek against Usagi’s skin. “Is Ami still asleep?”

“Yes. I didn’t want to wake her up - she looked very content. And it’s a Saturday.” Humming very softly to herself, Usagi opened the refrigerator and then laughed softly. She reached in and brushed her fingers over the three bento boxes inside - hers and her spare box and Mamoru’s - then closed it again. Frowned, taping her foot. There was something else.... “Oh! Laundry!” She rushed out of the kitchen and around to the closet, opened it and then the machine with an anticipatory wince, and then blinked at the empty machine a couple of times before the thought percolated. “Oh, Mako-chan....”

“She did all the chores? I got up to her making breakfast, then I went back to sleep,” Luna said, dipping her head in a fair approximation of a shrug. “It seems like her, though. She’s a natural housewife.”

Usagi closed the door carefully and frowned at it, running her fingers slowly over the wood. Tactile contact always made it easier for her to think. “Luna, don’t you think Makoto would have a husband if it wasn’t for being a senshi?”

“I’m not sure,” Luna stalked across the counter, head tilted contemplatively. “She might. Or she might still be looking for the right guy, or trying to convince him to settle down, or having him try to convince her that he was, in fact, the right guy. You’re all very young still… and being a senshi has helped her accomplish her other dreams. The bakery. Good friends.”

“I hope so.” Usagi brushed the wood one more time, then shook the thought off and smiled. “No chores for me, then! That means I can catch up on Utena-sama!”

“Usagi…” Luna began, then shook her head. “I suppose there’s no harm. Go ahead.”

She was still curled up on the couch with her copy of _Ciao_ in her lap when Ami came down stairs, yawning cutely. “I smell tea…” She’d wrapped herself in her blanket rather than dressing.

“Yes!” Usagi bounced to her feet, dropping her magazine on the table, and hustled over to the kitchen. “There’s breakfast, too... Mako-chan made it for us. It’s under covers, so it should still be warm.” She carried the teapot out to the table and set it between their trays, then pulled Ami’s chair out so she wouldn’t get her blanket tangled. “Good morning!”

Ami settled into her chair, lifting her cover from her food. “Good morning!” She looked down at her meal while Usagi poured them both tea, delighted. “It all looks so good! Makoto is an amazing cook.”

“She is.” Usagi sighed wistfully as she uncovered her own tray and breathed it in. “I wish I could cook as well as she does. Every time I try to make her special _motoyaki_ , I ruin it completely. _Itadakemasu._ ”

“ _Itadakemasu!_ ” Ami chimed in, taking a bite of her egg. “I wouldn’t even try that… it’s way too complex for me.”

“I want to be able to do it; Mamoru likes it. Someday I’ll succeed,” Usagi declared between sips of her miso and bites of her fish. “I just have to keep trying.”

“You’re so determined,” Ami said quietly. “I love that about you.”

Usagi blushed softly, and she knew her eyes must be wide open in surprise because she’d never gotten the trick of controlling her expression at all when she was with friends. “Um. It’s just.... I wouldn’t be much of a princess if I didn’t try my hardest, would I?”

Ami giggled into her hand. “I suppose that’s true. It’s good practice for how hard you’ll have to work then.”

“Do you ever wish it wouldn’t happen for a long time?”

“I’m not sure what I wish, honestly,” Ami said, glancing away. “I want to finish medical school. But… it’s where I’m supposed to be. I feel it in my bones.”

 _I wish I felt that way._ Usagi picked at her seaweed with her _hashi_ , not looking at Ami either. _I want to be here and now, with Mamo-chan and selling beautiful things. I know it has to come, that I can’t be a princess forever, but all I feel is days slipping through my fingers._

“But I love the life I’m living now,” Ami whispered. “And I’m afraid.”

The ache in her chest forgotten, Usagi straightened up and reached across the table to wrap her hand around Ami’s. She held the Guardian of Justice and Wisdom’s hand until those brilliant sapphire eyes finally looked up at her, and she had her warmest smile waiting. “Whatever happens, we’ll go there together. All of us.”

Ami tightened her hand around Usagi’s, meeting her friend’s eyes and smiling. “That’s the one part of it all that I’m certain of.”

“You’ll figure it all out,” Usagi promised her, meaning every word of it. “You’re the smartest.”

Ami laughed, taking both of Usagi’s hands. “Your faith in us all is the best thing about you, I think. Other than your smile.”

“You all deserve it!” Usagi blushed and squeezed Ami’s hands tightly. “None of you let me down. Not ever. I have the best friends in the whole universe.”

“You’re the best,” Ami said shyly. “And you keep us strong.”

“But I can’t help Minako study for her exams. How is she doing?” Usagi murmured, still holding Ami’s fingers for another few seconds before she reached for her _hashi_.

“She’s doing well, I think. I was tutoring her to help her prepare for a test last month… she’s working hard.”

“Is she still worried about her university exams?”

“Who isn’t? Worry about university exams is what you do in your third year.”

Usagi swiped her hand over her forehead in a deliberately exaggerated gesture of relief, treasuring the way Ami visibly tried not to break into undignified laughter. “Then I’m very lucky to only worry about my sales and my manager’s happiness, _ne_?”

Ami pressed a hand to her lips, holding back her giggles with an exceptional effort. “You are truly blessed.”

“Now if only Mamo-chan would come home more often, I would be offering prayers of thanks every day.” Her eyes widened, and she pressed her hand to her own mouth as if it could snatch the words back. No such luck.

Ami opened her mouth to reply, but then it fell closed again and she simply reached across the table for Usagi’s hand. Usagi lowered her hand to Ami’s, squeezing gratefully, and silently reminded herself that Mamoru having friends at school who would share an apartment with him for when he needed to study late was a good thing - much better than sleeping in a capsule hotel or rushing to catch the midnight train. Becoming a doctor required the most sincere dedication, and she was not going to be the reason he held back, no matter how much she wanted him to come home to her every night.

She might not be his wife in law yet, but she was determined to be a good wife to him in fact, no matter what her parents thought.

“Usagi,” Luna said, raising her head from her own breakfast. “I think you need to get going, or you’ll break that perfect record.”

“Oh!” A look at the clock brought a hot flush to Usagi’s face. “I’m sorry, Ami-chan, but I have to go!  Please forgive me.” She got up, bowed, was halfway out of the room when she remembered her tray and doubled back to put it in the sink, and then ran for the stairs.

She rushed getting ready a little, but she stopped to check herself in the mirror before she went down. Being on time wasn’t going to be good if she was untidy! Or if she forgot her compact - she doubled back for it and her disguise pen, hurried back down the stairs to grab her lunch and called a hasty “ _Ittekimasu!_ ” over her shoulder as she ran out the door.

The train was just pulling in when she rushed down the steps to it, and she might have elbowed a couple of people a little to get on, but she was on it with her bag and her lunch when it pulled out for Ginza.

 _Sorry, Ami-chan!_ She’d have to sneak into the bathroom before she started work and call Ami to apologize properly for running off like that, but at least her record was intact.

Three hundred and seventy-two days. She _could_ be responsible!

* * *

“We will meet _all_ sales goals for the day!” Noriko declared as she returned from the morning managers’ meeting. “I want you at your perky best, Tsukino. Honda, take your measurements the way you did during Golden Week. Wakahisa, that song you hum sometimes? Full blast. It increases sales. We will do it!”

“Yes, Hisakawa-san!” Rie and the other girls chorused the words along with Usagi, every one of them straightening as if coming to attention, but Noriko was already sweeping past toward the next section. Usagi bit her lip slightly, then shook herself gently and bounced a couple of times on her heels to put herself in the proper frame of mind. It was a quiet day so far, but that could change. If it would make Noriko happy, they would change it together. She flashed Kita over at the Prada display an encouraging smile and got one in return. The way everyone tried hard together was one of her favorite things about working under Noriko, like fighting monsters with her friends except without the danger and the horrible monsters.

There weren’t as many customers as there usually were on Saturday, which made things a little bit difficult, but Ayano-sama - a young businesswoman who said twice she only meant to look, but who was trying to make a good impression on a man she had her eye on and also make new friends at work - decided to buy two coats with matching accessories for herself and six scarves as gifts. Chiyoko-sama and her grandmother also replaced their coats for the season, and they both promised to send Chiyoko-sama’s sisters after Usagi suggested a family discount could be arranged. She would have to get Noriko’s permission, of course, but it could make the family very happy. Happy customers were regular customers.

When Noriko returned, she cast a suspicious glance at the Cosmetics section across the central promenade. “Tsukino… if you’d like, you can take lunch. I think things have slowed down a bit.”

“Thank you, Hisakawa-san.” Usagi dipped a quick bow. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s just a little complicated,” Noriko said. “I’ll cover your station. Go and eat.”

Usagi bowed again, knowing that she really shouldn’t ask more even if she wanted to. It wasn’t like she could solve whatever was bothering Noriko by throwing her tiara at it, after all. Besides, she was hungry. “Yes, ma’am.”

The girl in the breakroom was slender, almost otherworldly, her dark hair cut short and her eyes bright. She seemed to have forgotten where she was - she had a half-eaten lunch of sushi and omelet on the table beside where she’d propped up her feet, and she was rapt in her attention to a manga. Her knees blocked Usagi’s view of the cover art, but she could read the title in a flowery script - _Venus Love_. Usagi averted her eyes, not wanting to be rude, and crossed the room to take her bento down from the shelf. She opened it carefully, unlatching the box, and took a deep breath to enjoy how good it smelled. Makoto’s lunches were always the best.

“Moon-sama,” the girl sighed, her eyes a little wide as she read. “Come take me away?”

Usagi’s cheeks heated in a blush, and she carefully clattered her bento lid a couple of times without taking her eyes off her food.

“Oh!” Sakiko Wakahisa blushed a deep crimson and closed her book quite quickly, trying to tuck it under the table. “I’m sorry, Tsukino-san.”

“Please, don’t worry about it.” Usagi looked up from her meal with a relieved smile. “I’m very sorry to startle you. Your manga must be very absorbing.”

“It… it… a little,” Sakiko mumbleed. “I like it.”

“I’ve been reading Saito-san’s _Utena_. I think Utena-sama is very cool. So glamorous. _Itadakemasu_ ,” she added, reaching for her _hashi_ and picking up a beautifully cut carrot-flower to crunch down.

“I’ve been reading Utena too. It’s really good,” Sakiko said shyly. “It and… not much else, really. Is Hisakawa-san still…” She trailed off.

“She seems a little concerned,” Usagi temporized politely. “Do you think the morning meeting was difficult?”

“Ueda-san is no longer in Cosmetics… I think he moved to Sporting. The new manager in Cosmetics keeps looking at our department like it was…” Sakiko paused again, covering her mouth.

“Like it was?” Usagi prompted her, smiling as reassuringly as she could. Sakiko was very shy, but perhaps she could make her comfortable enough to talk about what was on her mind.

“Like it was…” Sakiko cast her eyes about the table. “Wasabi. And she was sushi.”

 _That is a very unusual metaphor. Very graphic._ Usagi blushed lightly. “Ah. So perhaps Noriko-san is feeling concerned that Ueda’s replacement will want to take her place? I can understand why she’d want us to work hard. Working for her is something I wouldn’t like to change.”

“Me either,” Sakiko agreed. “But I think something else may have happened. She was in the meeting later than most of the others.”

“Well, we will just have to try our best so that everyone knows what a good manager she is,” Usagi said firmly, taking her first bite of Makoto’s teriyaki chicken and sighing a little louder than she meant to in enjoyment. _Mako-chan is the best...._

“Yes!” Sakiko nodded vigorously, sitting up and reaching for her omelet as if she’d just remembered it. “I’ll work hard for Hisakawa-san.”

“Wakahisa-san!” Miyako’s voice came from the door, and she hustled across the room to where her lunchbox waited. “You’ve gone past the end of your lunch. Did you get lost in those pictures of Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus forgetting their uniforms before going to school again?”

Usagi’s mouth kicked in loyally before her brain had time to trip over itself and go mute. “She was explaining to me how to do better work for Noriko. Please forgive me for delaying her, Miyako.” She took another bite, then nearly choked when her ears finally got done talking to her brain. “Wait, pictures of what?”

Sakiko opened her mouth to respond, but all that came out were abbreviated vowel sounds. Miyako laughed quietly. “Her manga. I only saw a page of it, but it was… interesting. I wonder what Sailor Moon would think if she read it…”

Now it was Usagi’s turn to make incoherent sounds. It wasn’t that she didn’t _know_ there were bootleg manga about Sailor Moon and her team of crimefighters, or that she didn’t realize at least some of those magazines were _ecchi_. It was just that she had always avoided actually looking at any of them. But if the title of the manga was _Venus Love_....

Her cheeks were so red she was almost sure she was glowing.

“Anyway, Wakahisa-san, you’d better get back to work,” Miyako pointed out. “Usagi and I will have lunch, and spare you any more of my company.” She was looking at Usagi curiously, and Usagi suddenly made herself very busy with her bento while Sakiko made a couple of stuttered attempts at an apology, put her food and manga back on the shelf and hurried back out of the break room.

“That was a little bit mean,” Usagi finally managed between bites, giving Miyako what she hoped was a firm disapproving look. “You should apologize to Saki-chan.”

“I will,” Miyako said. “She’s a good girl. A bit flighty. I had the same first impression of you.”

Usagi prodded her food and took a couple more bites, reminding herself that people were different and that Miyako, in particular, could be moody. That didn’t mean she wasn’t a good person. “We try our best. I guess I just grew up a little faster than she did.”

Which was one way of describing having to save the world over and over and almost dying more than once. Probably that wasn’t something they put in Sakiko’s manga.

“I’m a little jealous,” Miyako admitted while she opened her own bento. “Of how slowly she’s grown up. It’s charming, and I can’t help but poke fun.”

“I miss when I used to think the most serious thing in my life was what was going to happen in _Ribon_ and _Ciao_ every month and whether I was going to fail my English test.” Usagi smiled wistfully at the memory. “Sometimes I think growing up is so sad. I wish it didn’t have to happen.”

“There are good parts, though,” Miyako said quietly. “Freedom comes with it. Or at least people not complaining quite as much when you do something they don’t expect.”

Usagi tried to find something to say three times before she finally gave up and went back to eating her bento, which somehow wasn’t as tasty as she’d thought it was. But that probably meant the problem was with her, not with Makoto’s cooking. She handled her next carrot flower with unnecessary roughness just to show it she didn’t have to be lady-like about everything.

“You’re friends with Rie, aren’t you? You’re friends with everyone.” Miyako took a swallow of her milk tea, making a face. “I meant to get lychee. The machine gave me pear.”

“Is everything okay with Rie?” The idea of Rie being in trouble shook Usagi out of her mood, and she put her whole attention on Miyako.

“I don’t know,” Miyako said. “But I overheard the new Cosmetics manager. She was murmuring about insufficient loyalty to the company and a failure to give proper diligence to work, and her name was in the midst of it. Mine, too, but I can handle myself.”

Usagi frowned. “You and Rie both work very hard. How could she think that?” But if that had been part of what happened at the meeting earlier with Noriko, it could explain a lot of things. “I’m sorry, Miyako, but I need to go back to work. Please enjoy your food.”

“Of course,” Miyako said. “Take care of yourself, Usagi. And the rest of us… you’re very good at that.”

 _I hope so._ Usagi was still worrying about it when she got back out to the floor, and Noriko had to remind her to smile. It took extra bounces to get back her positive attitude, but that was important. She needed to do a good job today. Tomorrow, when she had her day off, she could think about how to help Rie and Miyako and Noriko.

* * *

“Good job,” Noriko said as the custodians swept behind her. “We met all our goals… we’ll do even better tomorrow, though.” She cast a glance toward Cosmetics and sighed. “I know we will.”

“With your leadership, Hisakawa-san!” Usagi said it for all of them, because some of the other girls were probably too shy or reserved to say it. But if there was an advantage to spending her young adulthood being chased by (and sometimes chasing) horrible monsters from other dimensions and the future and outer space, it was that the list of things that scared her was down to a few. Which, okay, still included thunderstorms, but they were scary and a girl could only grow up so much.

Noriko raised a hand to her eye. “Thank you all. Have a good night…”

Hugging her manager, Usagi reminded herself, was not ladylike or respectful no matter how much she wanted to. She settled for straightening her displays one more time before she went to get her things from the break room. By the time she got there, almost everyone was already gone except for Sakiko. The girl was struggling with her scarf, which seemed to untie itself every time she adjusted it into place. “Oh! Tsukino-san…”

“Let me help, Saki-chan.” Usagi set her bag and lunchpurse on the table, then took the scarf in her hand and carefully wrapped it around Sakiko’s neck before tying it together delicately. “There.”

By the time she was done, the girl’s face was a deep crimson, and she murmured, “Thank you, Tsukino-san. I don’t know why I couldn’t get it straight…”

 _I felt the same way. Then, one day, I could._ Usagi smiled gently. “You’ll get the hang of it, Saki-chan. Would you like to walk to the station together?”

“Could we?” Sakiko perked up immediately. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Then we will.” It only took a moment or two to bundle herself into her coat and scarf, adjust her hat and gloves, make sure her bag and purse were with her and check her inside pocket to make sure her compact was still there. This was a good idea, she decided as she started for the door, because the walk home had made her sad last night before Mako-chan and Ami-chan had saved her. Sakiko would keep her company, at least until the train.

“Did you talk to Inoue-san? She apologized to me when things slowed down toward the end of the evening… it sounded more… heartfelt… than usual. Thank you,” Sakiko said, the words coming out of her in a rush.

“She was already sorry. I just reminded her she needed to tell you so.” Usagi smiled and patted Sakiko’s hand gently as they rode the elevator down. “I think she wishes she could enjoy stories with such a pure heart, Saki-chan.”

Sakiko bit her lip for a moment before whispering, “Is it… really pure?”

“Does it make you feel bright and clean and shining, like the moonlight could pass through you and make you glow?”

“Yeah… it does,” Sakiko murmured, smiling down at Usagi. “It feels nice. In lots of ways…”

 _It’s just the cold, I’m not blushing, I’m NOT blushing,_ Usagi told herself firmly. “Then what could be purer than that? It’s love that lets Sailor Moon save people, after all.” _And now you’re invoking yourself as a heroic example. Your life is weird, Usagi-chan._

“Oh! I guess that’s true.” Sakiko perked up. “She’s really the very best, isn’t she? Even better than Hisakawa-san or Honda-san…”

“I think she just tries her best, like everyone does. It’s her friends who do the most for her.” Usagi bit the inside of her mouth lightly to stop herself before her nerves made her rattle on any more. Talking about herself from outside herself was just strange.

“Especially Sailor Venus,” Sakiko breathed, looking for a moment like she was somewhere else entirely.

Somehow, Usagi resisted the urge to cover her face with her scarf. _Mina-chan, I will never tell you about this because then I would have to find a way to erase both our memories._ But some wicked imp pricked her tongue, and what she said was “What makes you think that, Saki-chan?”

“Well… Sailor Venus is the most powerful of her friends, and leads them. And she’s the only other one who ever did it alone. And they have the same smile, so often…”

“Oh.” Usagi bit her lip, thinking about the spotlight shine of Minako’s smile and how elegant she always seemed. _Do I really smile that way?_ “Are there... um... a lot of magazines like that one you were reading earlier?”

“I don’t really know. They’re not really published… just assembled by fans who can draw. I haven’t found any other _good_ ones.” Sakiko was blushing again, but smiling as well as she talked. “Well… there’s some good ones about Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, or about Sailor V and Tuxedo Mask, or Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury… but this is the only really good one about Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus I’ve found.”

“Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury?” Usagi blurted, her cheeks burning harder than ever, and couldn’t thank God and the spirits enough that they were almost alone on the street. The artists probably had no idea how pretty Ami and Rei could look kissing. Not that it had happened more than once, but she remembered it vividly.

“Yes… _Messenger of Passion_ is the best of those. They’re not my favorite,” Sakiko said. “I know how to contact the artist, though… I could get you a copy.”

“Ah. It’s just that I’m a little....” Usagi trailed off, trying to think of some polite way to refuse and trying to convince herself that she definitely wanted to refuse. In the process, she left it hanging long enough that Sakiko seemed to read a yes into it and started smiling brightly.

“I’ll get in touch with her, then, and get the first few books,” Sakiko said brightly. “I’m so glad. I thought… I never met anyone else who read things like that.”

 _I don’t. But I can’t tell her that now without hurting her feelings. I’ll just take them politely and maybe peek to see what crazy things they’re writing._ “I’ve never really had anyone to help me find them.”

“You have to look on the Internet. Or at conventions, I guess… but I couldn’t go to one of those.”

“Why not?” Usagi blurted out before good sense could intervene.

“Because they’d be full of people dressed as the Sailor Senshi and I’d be too embarrassed to talk to the artists in person…”

“Maybe if you took a friend, it would be easier. That’s what friends do for each other, right?”

“Would you come with me?” Sakiko looked at her, eyes wide, and Usagi took the stairs down into the station as a chance to try to come up with some excuse why she couldn’t. She’d never been any good at excuses, though, and she did want Sakiko to be happy. Besides, what could go wrong?

“All right,” she said, giving Sakiko’s hand one more squeeze. “We’ll go together.”

Sakiko returned the squeeze, her smile wide as the moon. “I’ll find out when the next one is.”

Usagi smiled back. She couldn’t help it - Sakiko was just so cute. “Our trains go opposite ways,” she pointed out, “so I will need my hand back.”

“Oh!” Sakiko pulled her hand back quickly. “Sorry. See you at work?”

Usagi took a step toward the train and waved, mainly to reassure the other girl she wasn’t upset. “Monday. Be safe, Saki-chan!”

“Take care, Tsukino-san!” Sakiko started to skip toward her own train platform. Usagi squeezed onto her train, still watching Sakiko go, and waited until the train pulled out to hide her face discreetly in her hands. _I’m going to get ecchi magazines of my best friends. What kind of person am I? But I don’t want to disappoint Sakiko. Where am I going to put them so Mamo-chan won’t see them?_

She was still chewing the problem over when she got off the train and started her walk home, and it distracted her so much that she hardly noticed the cold while she was unlocking the door. A light was still on in the front room, which wasn’t like Ami-chan to leave on, but maybe Luna’d wanted it for some reason....

She caught the smell of fresh roses in the air - richer and deeper than Makoto’s scent, full of traces of sunshine and life - and her heart was suddenly in her throat. Her coat hit the floor a second before her bags, her shoes clattering against the door as she kicked out of them carelessly, and then she was running over the polished wood in her socks and nearly came off her feet as she cornered into the living room. It didn’t matter - what mattered was sitting on the couch in front of the table facing the television, an old book open in one hand and a startled smile on his face.

“MAMO-CHAN!” She nearly tripped over the rug, stumbled a few steps and then wrapped herself around him. The warm, sweet nearness of him flooded her as she buried her face against his jaw and felt his chest move against her with the sudden depth of his breathing, and she didn’t care that she was being undignified or unladylike or selfish. She just wanted to be as close to him as she could for as long as she could.

It was like having air and color in the world again.

The book thumped on the table behind her and his arms wrapped around her with infinite care. His fingertip slid over her cheek and found it wet - she hadn’t realized she’d started to cry until she felt it against his fingers - and his voice moved over her like a caress. “Usako....”

“I’m okay,” she whispered, shifting up onto her knees so she could cover the perfect bones of his cheeks and brow with kisses. “I’m okay. I’m just so happy to see you. I don’t mean to interrupt your studying....”

He stopped her mouth with a kiss - slow, reverent, breath-stealing. She wound her fingers into his hair and trembled with her joy. When it was finally over, he looked down at her and smiled. “I was only reading for pleasure, Usako. I left my textbooks at the apartment with Hideki-kun. I thought we ought to spend our time together without distractions.”

“Mamo-chan.” Her voice shook now, but her hands were very sure when they slid down from his hair and slowly traced the buttons of his vest. Practice, it had turned out, was a fair cure for clumsiness with certain things. “If you aren’t too hungry?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Usako?” His smile - warm, unguarded, hers - seemed to gather in all the light in the room, and she answered him with a kiss of her own. It burned from the core of her, and the low sound that vibrated his chest under her fingers told her that he felt the same fire. She _was_ hungry, but not for food. Not now. Later, yes, but not now.

The way he swept her up in his arms brought a hot blush to her cheeks, and she buried a laugh in his shoulder as he started carrying her up the stairs. She didn’t have to see his face to know that his smile was a silent question - she could feel it under her fingers, in the line of his jaw. “I was just thinking that this is much nicer when you’re not saving me from monsters.”

“But not quite as exciting,” he said, only the faint chuckle in the base of his throat betraying the studious seriousness of his voice. She buried her laugh against his pulse, biting gently, and his breath scraped over his teeth as he kicked the door closed behind them. When he laid her on the bed, she left her arms draped around his shoulders while he knelt over her to kiss her, luxuriating in the slow caress of his hands through her uniform and the careful, adoring way he tasted her. The first time Mamoru had kissed her, moonlight streaming down on them, she’d pretended to stay asleep because she’d been afraid he might stop and take the perfect sunlight joy he spilled inside her away. Now she knew he wouldn’t, that he never would, and she could bury her hands in the dark silk of his hair while she drew him into her mouth and traced the soft edges of her tongue over his. It always made him a little crazy when she did that, and she buried her grunt of pleasure at the urgency of his fingertips fumbling her clothes open against his mouth.  

“This is better,” she husked when they finally broke for air, both of them trembling with the urgency of their breathing, and he looked at her blankly until she took pity on him and pressed her lips to his cheeks while she finished drawing his shirt off and running her palms over the smooth muscle of his shoulders and chest. Just looking at him in the moonlight spilling through their window made her heart pound in her throat. “Than dusting monsters and looking after you longingly. This is much better.”

He took her hand in his and lifted the finger that wore his ring - the glittering pink diamond ringed like a halo with smaller jewels and set in gold, the band inset with a stone for every one of her guardians -  to his lips, kissing it while his eyes held hers, and she thought her chest might burst with how swiftly and fiercely her heart beat. Even now, two years later, she looked down at it and wondered at how she’d ever been lucky enough to win a man like him. His fingers slowly slipped away from her hand, reaching for the last button of her shirt, but she touched his wrist with her fingertips and he stopped, a fresh question in his eyes. She squirmed out from under him enough to sit up against the headboard, sliding her fingers into her own hair and extracting the hair pins there just a little more patiently than was strictly necessary. His eyes never left her face, and when she finally shook her head to spill her hair free over the bed, she could hear his breath stop in his throat.

 _Let him look at me like that always,_ she prayed silently, reaching down to carefully finish unfastening her shirt and let it slide away from her shoulders.

“Usako.” The groan of desire started somewhere deep in his chest, and his hands slowly trailed through her hair before he reached for the clasp of her bra. She arched her back, let him slide it off her, stroked her fingers over his shoulders while he bent to press his lips to the soft curve of her breast. The raw whimper of her desire boiled up from her belly, undignified and shameless, but he wouldn’t be moved from his slow, methodical worship of her breasts and collarbones. She was absolutely certain she was going to die of pleasure before he even touched the slickness of her thighs, and she just didn’t care.

What she did care about, what always drove her half-mad when he made love to her, was how he savored taking his time with her. It didn’t matter if she was leaving red half-moons in his shoulders with her nails or whining in her throat like a hungry kitten, if she writhed her body under his or went rigid as stone under his lips, if she cursed him or swore her devotion forever. Mamoru always, always chose the pace he wanted for her and stuck to it.

She loved him for that.

When she was already practically pleading for him to slide onto her, slide _into_ her, that was when he finally pressed her thighs apart and flashed the wickedly intimate smile that told her just how doomed she was before he kissed the lips that were achingly slick and ready for him as if he were kissing her mouth. Her hands wrapped in the wrought iron roses of the headboard, clinging to the stems to keep herself from screaming in ecstatic frustration, and her hips thrashed helplessly until his firm hands on her thighs trapped her where he wanted her, how he wanted her. He worshipped her with his mouth until she couldn’t see, couldn’t think, couldn’t have told him her own _name_ , and that was when he finally let her go. Wild as she was, it didn’t matter that he had thirty-three centimeters and kilos of weight on her - she threw everything she had into rolling him onto his back, into wrapping her hands in his hair and her legs around his waist so he couldn’t get away from her. So he couldn’t ever leave her.

When she pushed herself down on him and felt him open her all the way to the burning core of her sex, when he arched up under her and cried her name into her mouth like a prayer, that was when she could be gentle. That was when she could comfort him, stroke his face and his hair and hold him in her eyes while she rode the urgency of his desire with her own. That was when she felt as though she really could reach out and take the whole world in her hands.

When he spent himself into her, every spasm of her climax prolonging his, she knew in her bones that no other woman had ever been so happy.

“Mamo-chan,” she whispered into his skin as she settled herself on his chest, tucking her head under his chin, “I wish we could do this every night.”

His chuckle was raw with exertion and his eyes stayed closed, but he lifted a hand to the back of her neck and stroked the long fall of her hair languidly. “I need to get home more often, clearly.”

If every inch of her body hadn’t been humming and glowing with joy, she might have been tempted to voice a complaint or ask why he didn’t, but under the circumstances she was just pleased he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him. “Please?”

“I’ll try, Usako,” he murmured, lips touching her temple softly.

She yawned and closed her eyes, aware of her own voice mumbling as if it were coming from somewhere in the distance. “You better. Big jerk.”

The last thing she felt before sleep and dreams enfolded her was his laughter under her ear.


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark and cold and early when the low cranky growl of Usagi’s stomach woke her, and she squirmed her way out from under Mamoru’s arms with as much discretion as urgency allowed. It wasn’t the first time they’d fallen asleep after making love without getting food, and she knew she wouldn’t be fit company for anybody until she’d eaten. Maturity and lady-like behavior were fine in their place, but civilization on an empty stomach was too much to ask of anyone.

Fortunately, in spite of Luna’s long-standing indignant protests, she had a stash of instant soba noodles and a water heater. Five minutes of impatience later, hot soba noodles were in her mouth while she hopped from one cold foot to the other on her way to the couch. Taking her seat was met with an indignant screech, and Luna squirming out from under her. “Watch where you sit!”

“Smatch whur yoo scheep!” Usagi retorted around a mouth full of hot noodles, shifting awkwardly out of the way and balancing her soba bowl like the treasure it was.

“Your taste in noodles is matched only by your attentiveness,” Luna sniped back, leaping over Usagi’s lap to curl up on the arm of the sofa.

Usagi ignored her partner and slurped her noodles defiantly, tugging a blanket up around her while she waited for the heater to warm up the dark room. It was too early for lectures, so she would just act as though she wasn’t receiving one. Someday that would work.

A few minutes passed. She was almost done with her noodles when a salient fact percolated. “Luna,” she mumbled, “you’re not lecturing me.”

“I’m trying to sleep. And you’ll understand eventually,” Luna said. “So there’s not much point.”

Usagi squinted at her, then at her bowl, then back at the black of Luna’s coat mingled with the soft darkness of the room. “It must be really early in the morning.”

“It is. So I’m going back to sleep.” Luna curled up a little more tightly around herself and tucked her tail in front of her nose.

“Okay. I guess you can.” Usagi set her bowl down, yawned, rolled over in the blanket and closed her eyes. “ _Oyasumi,_ Luna.”

“ _Oyasuminasai,_ Usagi,” Luna sighed.

 

_“Serenity-sama!”_

_The cool, civilized harshness of the voice of the princess of Mars snapped the heir to the Queen of the Silver Millenium (her mother and her mother’s mother before her disliked the title of Empress, no matter how apt it might have been) out of her daydreams, and she quickly folded her hands and bowed her head in apology. “I’m very sorry, Mars-sempai. Please forgive my inattentiveness. I was lost in meditation.”_

_“Lost in thinking of some pretty face, more likely. How can you expect to be a good queen if you can’t even pay attention to your own spiritual development?” Her gaze practically smoking with disapproval, Serenity’s spiritual mentor and guardian folded her arms and visibly restrained herself from cuffing the girl who would one day be her rightful liege-lady about the ears._

_Blushing deeply, Serenity lowered her bow a little further and then snuck a look up under her lashes. “I promise to pay more attention. I know with your help, I’ll learn everything I need to know.”_

_“Well. I... I suppose.” Now it was the other girl’s turn to flush lightly. “I do have a scroll summarizing today’s lesson just lying around, but don’t think that I approve of you taking things so lightly just because I give it to you.”_

_“I would never do that, Mars-sempai.” Serenity beamed with her most radiant smile, grateful for the kindness, and it only seemed to make her mentor more flustered._

_“Really,” she huffed, cheeks still on fire, “I don’t know what you’d do without me. Waste away all your time staring at pretty dresses, most likely.”_

_“Not all my time,” Serenity temporized, though she couldn’t help admiring how prettily the flameweave patterns of her guardian’s dress caught the light._

_“Serenity-sama!”_

 

Delicate prickling pain in her shoulder dragged Usagi up out of the dreams and into the deep gray light of early morning, and she tried to pull the blanket over her head with one hand while she extracted the bundle of sharp-edged fur from her shoulder. “It’s too early....”

“It’s time to get ready,” Luna insisted. “And you shouldn’t sleep on the sofa. It’s bad for your posture.”

 _It’s my day off. I shouldn’t have to. I don’t want to get ready or do chores - I want to go back to sleep and read manga all day._ Usagi held the blanket over her head a few more seconds, trying to convince herself so she could complain, but her rice wasn’t cooked for the day and Mamoru would need breakfast and his bento. Groaning one more time, she pushed the blanket off and stood up and stretched. “You sleep on the couch all the time,” she mumbled. “Obviously you should care more about your posture, Luna.”

“I have a flexible spine designed to sleep curled up,” Luna said. “You did a paper on cats in school, your last year, remember?”

“No.” At least the front rooms were warm from the heater. Usagi wandered into the kitchen, absently combing her fingers through her hair, and took out her washing bowl to measure rice into. _One cup, two cups, three cups._ She started to take a fourth, frowned, tapped her fingers on the counter. “Luna, why don’t I think I should make a lot of rice today?”

“Because you’re not going to be here all day,” Luna said, walking to Usagi across the table. “Make sure there’s fish for breakfast, though. I’ve been craving fish.”

“Not going to.... oh! I told mother I’d come over today, didn’t I?” The measuring cup went back onto its hook and Usagi settled into washing her rice, burying a yawn against her arm while she worked. _It wouldn’t really be breakfast without fish. Fish, rice and soup - mama alway says that’s what makes a breakfast._ Not that she didn’t skimp some mornings, but that didn’t mean Luna had to assume she was going to skip fish today.

She pouted her way through letting the rice soak while she slipped upstairs to retrieve the laundry from the bedroom, but she couldn’t sustain it when she saw her Mamo-chan still asleep in their bed. He was so beautiful asleep that her heart ached, and she stood for what seemed like a long time with her hand against her breast before she could make herself turn away. The smile lingered even when the pounding of her pulse eased, and she hummed a little to herself while she loaded the washing machine and then went to check her rice. Acceptable - not as good as letting it soak overnight, but it would be good enough. She poured off the water, added the rice and fresh water to her cooker and programmed it for what she wanted, then started on Mamoru’s bento. Fresh omelette, pickled vegetables, _umeboshi_ , broiled salmon and two hard-boiled eggs - everything but the rice and the _nori_. Soup was next - stock and vegetables, with potatoes and _nori_ for warmth, and the miso waiting on the side - and then the fish and some duck meat she’d gotten for a dinner alone and then let go unused. She decided to put some of that into the bento, too, and added enough spice to make sure Mamoru would be happy with it. Her rice cooker pinged and she patted it companionably. The soup smelled delicious, and her stomach growled again. She settled on a small roll to tide her over while she checked the vegetables in the stock one more time and covered the breakfast fish to keep it warm.

“So domestic.” Mamoru’s voice from the door almost made her jump out of her skin, and she waved her ladle threatening - something that seemed to leave him unjustly unmoved.

“Why do you always sneak up on me?” Whining was unladylike, but she was doing it anyway and he just leaned against the open frame of the door with a grin on his face. Stupid beautiful smug idiot. She ought to whack him with the ladle a few times just to make sure he understood how unhappy she was. But then the grin softened into a smile and he held out his hand, and she just couldn’t sustain the irritation compared to going to him and letting him wrap his arms around her.

Finally, he tipped her face up and bent down to kiss her lightly. “I’m sorry, Usako. You just startle so prettily. I know it’s a bad old habit, but I enjoy it. Forgive me?”

“I forgive you,” she whispered against his lips, heart pounding so fast that her fingertips trembled.

“Usagi… breakfast,” Luna called out in her most dignified tone of concern.

“Oh!” Blushing and squirming out of Mamo-chan’s arms and shooing him away all at once, Usagi ran for the stove. “Go sit down - I’ll have the food out in a moment!”

It took an effort not to rush the presentation, knowing that Mamo-chan was sitting at the table reading his paper, but that part was just as important. Everything in its own bowl, everything tidy on the tray the way it ought to be. Tea would be a little late, but that was forgivable; she made sure to pour the hot water with care and set the teapot aside before she picked up the first tray - Mamoru’s, of course - and carried it out to the table. Her mother could manage everyone’s trays at once, but Usagi’d made a truly disastrous mess both times she’d tried that during junior high. One tray at a time was her rule ever since, no matter how many trips it made for.

“Tea will be ready soon,” she promised, dawdling over him long enough to kiss him, then caught a sigh from the end of the table and straightened up quickly. “Sorry, Luna. Please wait a moment!”

Another trip to the kitchen and she had Luna served, who stared at her food longingly. “Thank you, Usagi.”

The tea was almost ready, so she brought out her own tray and then went back for it. Once it and the rice were on the table, she seated herself and carefully folded her hands in her lap.

“ _Itadakemasu,_ ” Mamoru declared, Usagi and Luna joining in almost in the same breath, and then there was a brief lull of total silence as they all addressed themselves to eating as decorously as being very, very hungry allowed.

“Mamoru, have you heard back from Yukimura-sensei?” Luna asked between bites.

Whatever his answer was, Usagi missed it. She didn’t mean to - it was just that the sound of his voice and watching him use his _hashi_ always left her blushing and slightly stupefied. She picked out a couple of words, though, so she put on her best proud smile and nodded energetically. “He’d be very silly not to pick you, Mamo-chan. I’m sure you can do it.”

Apparently that was the right thing to say, because Mamoru smiled back. “I hope so. I very much want to be one of his students. I’ll just have to work especially hard the next couple of weeks so that he accepts my sincerity.”

Usagi tried hard not to let her face fall at the thought of seeing even less of him for a little while. The food helped, and so did seeing how excited he was while he explained the finer points of Yukimura’s surgical style to Luna. He was always so beautiful when he was determined, and she wanted to be worthy of that resolve. She would be, she promised herself.

Mamoru glanced at the clock and frowned, then stood up and bowed. “Please forgive me for leaving this wonderful meal half-eaten, Usako.”

“Don’t think of it.” Guiltily aware that she’d eaten everything on her own plate and let him talk when he should have been focused on his own, she rushed over and hugged him on her way to the kitchen. “Just let me get your bento!”

He was already coming back down the stairs with his books and papers when she caught up to him, and they pressed close in the front hall while he moved around her and changed into his neat leather shoes. She had his coat and hat out of the closet by then, tucking the first over his arm and setting the second playfully on his head, and his smile was as warm and bright as the sun. Then he bent down and lifted her almost off her feet to kiss her, pressing the memory of his mouth into hers so she could hold it there as long as it took him to come home, and she felt as if she practically floated back down to the floor while she waved him goodbye.

Still humming happily from his kiss, Usagi slipped off her dirty socks and bounded back through the front hall to her laundry closet, pulling out her lines and pins. It was such a beautiful day outside - cold but bright and dry - and she didn’t want to waste any of it; she only stopped long enough to pull on a sweater, a long skirt and warm leggings before she opened up the windows to let the light in. It took a little concentration for her to make sure her lines were tied properly and that she hadn’t tangled them - it seemed like every few days she did that, in spite of all her practice - but today was a good day and she didn’t make any mistakes. Her first load of laundry hung beautifully, especially Mamo-chan’s lovely white shirts, and she made good time on hanging the rugs (beating them was actually a lot of fun in spite of the sneezing) and sweeping her floors. A minute or two next to her downstairs heater warmed her up enough to go on, and she attacked her kitchen next.

“Rinse the dish, soak the dish, wash the dish, dry the dish,” she sang softly, bouncing on her heels to keep up her energy while she worked. It was nice to live in her own house, without Shingo to complain about her singing or her mother to fret over her, but it did mean a lot of chores. Her dusting could wait for when she got home, especially because she was drying her laundry now, but it would be best to do everything else before she left for the day - she did her best cleaning in the morning while she was enthusiastic.

She didn’t get around to cleaning her bathroom, in the end, but her laundry was neatly folded and put away and the house closed back up when she carried her secret snack of _onigiri_ over to the small covered table in her living room and slipped her chilly legs under the blanket of the _kotatsu._ Where, of course, she managed to put her feet right into a warm ball of fur.

“U- _sa_ -gi!” Luna cried from under the table, poking her head out and glaring upward. “Be careful!”

“I’m sorry!” Usagi tried to pull her legs up under her and stay properly covered and hold onto her food all at the same time, and somehow managed it. Her dignity didn’t make out as well, but it was Luna. Being dignified for her partner and keeper was definitely an aspirational goal. “Are you okay, Luna?”

“Mostly,” Luna said, stretching her front paws forward. “I always rest under this side.”

“I forgot,” Usagi admitted, hanging her head a little and trying not to give into the temptation to nibble on her _onigiri_ at the same time. It didn’t have the right air of contrition.

“I forgive you,” Luna said with a sigh, slipping back under the table. “Just be careful!”

“I will!” The sincerity of the promise might have seemed somewhat lacking given that she gave it around the savory taste of her rice ball, but she did mean it. Luna was important to her, and she hated the idea of anyone ever hurting her cat again. Even once had been too many times.

In spite of temptation, she didn’t turn on the television. She was proud of herself for that. If she started watching dramas or anime, she might lose track of time and be late to see her mother. That would give entirely the wrong impression of how she was conducting herself in her life with Mamo-chan, so she stuck to her resolution and got up promptly after finishing her snack. It was hard when the _kotatsu_ kept her legs so warm, but she did it.

“I’m going, Luna! Your lunch is in the refrigerator on a plate - be careful getting it out!”

“Take care, Usagi!” Luna replied. “Tell your mother hello for me!”

“I will!” _Even if I can’t tell her you talk_. Usagi shook her head as she pulled her bag together. She loved her parents - and yes, even her brother, especially since he was less annoying now - but the weight of all the things she knew and they didn’t was sometimes hard to endure. It made a chasm between them that no amount of love seemed able to get across, and she was always biting her tongue to keep from saying more than she ought to.

Still, it would be good to see her mother. With work and homemaking, it seemed much longer than every two weeks or so that she visited. It might have been better to go every week for a shorter time, but that made the train ride seem to take up too much of the trip.

Life was imperfect. Maybe when she was queen she would try to fix that.

“ _Ittekimasu!_ ” Shutting the door behind her, Usagi quickly pulled on her coat, gloves and hat. It might be a bright and beautiful day, but she was already cold enough from her morning! Her scarf got particular attention because she wanted her mother to be impressed with how orderly she looked today, and she didn’t use the shoulder strap of her bag either. The coat would have time to shake out wrinkles on the train to Azabu-Juuban, and she’d be able to read at least some of _Nakayoshi_ on her way. She could hope so, anyway, if it wasn’t too crowded.

It was, of course, and she barely kept her umbrella from being crushed by the tight press of people. But a boy and a girl near the front of the car were holding hands and smiling together, and it kept her heart warm the whole ride. Once she was up out of the station, of course, everything was familiar and welcome - the buildings just as they always were, the streets familiar, the little shops full of customers and part-timers who knew her by sight if not by name - Tsukino, the little girl always laughing happily and tripping over her own feet. The Crown Arcade just the same, full of junior high girls and boys trying to beat game machines - some the same, some new. Sometimes she imagined what it would be like to turn a corner here and be run into headlong by a thirteen year-old girl with her golden hair in odangos and no idea what the future had in store for her yet. No idea of the losses of her past, either - just eager to spend time with her friends, read her manga, play games and eat sweets.

She wouldn’t say anything if she ever did, of course, and not just because Setsuna would have a fit. Why ruin the time that girl had left of imagining her poor English grades were her biggest problem?

Turning up her parents’ street only made the memories thicker, and she had to stop for an extra moment on the doorstep to clear the tears from her lashes before she could slip her coat and hat off to knock. She hugged the coat until her mother opened the door, then smiled and bowed properly. “Please forgive me for bothering you, mother.”

“Come in,” Tsukino Ikuko chided her fondly, already reaching for her coat. “You don’t have to be so formal, little rabbit.”

“A lady shouldn’t be rude, especially to her mother.” Usagi surrendered her outerwear and slipped into her familiar house shoes with a little private smile - they still fit the same way they had when she’d lived here. “Everyone’s well?”

“Your brother is studying for his high school exams,” her mother said with a stoic little smile.

 _So all life except work and study has ceased,_ Usagi translated, burying a laugh against her hand. It wasn’t nice to be pleased by her brother’s discomfort, even if it was good for his future prospects, but she couldn’t help it. “Can I help you with lunch?”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have some tea and watch television?”

Ikuko’s expression suggested a certain fear for her kitchen fittings, and Usagi tried not to sigh. Her mother hadn’t really adjusted to the idea of Usagi cooking anything more complex than instant ramen yet, even if it had been a year and more since she’d set anything on fire in anyone’s kitchen (the incident with the grill on Ami’s balcony did not in any way count). The point of visiting was to make her mother feel less tense instead of more, though, so she settled for dusting and straightening the front room while her mother worked in the kitchen. It was worth it for the way her mother lit up when she came out of the kitchen with their tea and found everything spotless. Well, mostly - Usagi hadn’t dusted the television.

Even if it’d been a decade since well-intentioned effort and clumsiness ended in the television making the personal acquaintance of her mother’s favorite small table (and a few bumps and bruises of her own in the process), Usagi could still remember the looks on her parents’ faces. She left cleaning the television strictly alone, and everyone was happier for it.

Her tea pouring went reassuringly well, which helped chase the memory off. “Is everything going well with the neighborhood association, mother?”

“We are managing well, though there is a little trouble with some of the younger boys in the neighborhood. People feel that they may be a little too rowdy,” Ikuko said with the utmost seriousness. As newly appointed vice-president of the association - a position she’d had her eye on as long as Usag could remember - she was still not quite over the need to pursue every minor neighborhood issue with the same sincerity her husband applied to the trade agreements he worked on at MITI. It wasn’t the Usagi was teasing her, exactly; it was just that she enjoyed seeing how very determined her normally polite and retiring mother could be when she set her mind to something.

“That is unfortunate,” she replied with as much polite concern as she could muster, “but I am sure their families will bring them around.”

Ikuko sipped her tea for a moment, folding her hands once she set the cup down. “Some children are more stubborn than others.”

Luna would have been proud of the way that Usagi sipped her own tea in respectful contemplation and did not in any way leap to her own defense. A few years ago, her mother’s concern would have felt overbearing and even cruel; real experience with arrogance and cruelty had knocked that illusion away and left her mother’s quiet, lifelong concern for her eldest daughter exposed as just that - loving worry. Sometimes Usagi wanted nothing more in the world (except maybe being Mamoru’s wife) than to tell her mother _why_ she was different, why she’d always been dreaming of another world, why she’d needed to leave school, why she knew that Mamo-chan was the one she’d marry. But she couldn’t, so she had to settle for respecting her mother’s fears without letting them stop her from doing what she wanted and needed to do: have a normal life while she could.

“Mamoru’s studies are going well, and I hope to be the best saleswoman in my department this year.” She flashed a happy smile before she reached for her tea again, hoping it was as reassuring as it felt. “We’ve been discussing taking some time to travel after he graduates.” _In two years, when I can marry him without your permission,_ she left as unsaid as _assuming that the world hasn’t yet suffered a huge catastrophe that requires me to put humanity into stasis._ “London and America and maybe Europe. I’ve started saving for it and trying to pick places we ought to go. You and father could make suggestions on the best places to visit?”

“I’d have to ask your father about that sort of thing,” Ikuko temporized. “Though I imagine that Mamoru has acquaintances in America from his study abroad that he would like you to meet.”

 _If he hadn’t been busy being dead at the time, that would be nice._ “I’m sure he does. I’d love to see more of the world.” They sat and sipped tea over that for a while, as if she’d said something profound instead of just expressed a little enthusiasm, and finally Usagi put her cup down and squeezed her hands tight in her lap. “Mother, will you and father and Shingo come to my home for _Oshogatsu_ this year? It would be precious to me if you would. Please.”

“Well,” Ikuko said, obviously taken off guard, but her husband’s voice carried through from the front hall before she could finish framing her answer and she called “ _Okaeri!_ ” back to him while she pushed up from the table and rushed to the door without ever appearing to hurry. It was exactly like her mother, and Usagi buried a wistful sigh in her hand. _I am never going to look half that elegant.... or get an answer without having to bring it up again._

Well, there was nothing to do except tidy away the tea things and help set the table for lunch. That and sneak up on her father enough to wrap a hug around him when he wasn’t expecting it.

It was only a short bus ride from her parents’ house to Rei’s temple, but memory always made Usagi’s throat a little tight during the trip. There was the fear - watching Jadeite driving that horrible bus with Rei in the back, chasing it, being so _sure_ she wasn’t going to catch hold of it in time, nearly freezing to death before Rei and her beautiful burning fire had saved them - but it seemed like every time she rode the bus that fear receded just a little more. It was the memory of seeing Rei the first time that got stronger each time, of the beautiful raven flow of her hair and the distant, serious look on her face before those perfect amethyst eyes turned to look at her....

“Oh! I’m sorry, excuse me...” she had to struggle a little through the crowd to get out the door before it closed, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She didn’t mean to space out like that, it just happened to her sometimes. Especially when she was thinking about Rei. Which she was definitely not going to do right now, because then she might get lost in Rei’s ward and have to deal with one of those cool, gently reproving looks that always followed her using her communicator to ask for directions. Rei still felt it was important for a woman to know how to be sufficient to herself, even if friendship had opened her heart to asking for help.

Fortunately, she didn’t get either distracted or lost (though a little out of breath climbing all of those stairs), and was perfectly presentable when the girl tending the gate - it was Mii today, which only made the past feel closer than usual - went to fetch Rei. It took a few moments, and then Mii returned with an apologetic bow. “She says she’s sweeping the shrine, Tsukino-san. Would you like to wait for her?”

“Please don’t inconvenience yourself.” Usagi patted Mii’s shoulder, then made her own way to the curve of walkway at the back of the hill that was Rei’s perpetual nemesis - whether it was leaves in the fall, snow and salt in the winter or dust in the spring and summer, she always struggled to keep it clean enough for her own satisfaction. And there, as always, she found the most beautiful _miko_ in Japan trying to put callouses on her graceful fingers with a broom handle.

For a moment or two, all she could do was stand and stare. Rei was so elegant, especially in her shrine maiden’s uniform, and her concentration was so perfect and breath-taking that it seemed like a terrible crime to disturb her; on the other hand, it was very cold and you could only appreciate so much about someone when you were starting to shiver.

Of course, Rei wasn’t wearing gloves _or_ a scarf. “Aren’t you cold?”

If Rei was surprised to hear her voice, she didn’t show it. “Only a little. Would you like to meditate inside while I finish?”

“Ugh.” Meditation was important - Usagi was ready to admit that much - but every time she tried it, she just fell asleep on the floor and had to be woken up. Usually by Rei sighing and shaking her. “Here, let me finish for you.”

“You can’t do it properly in those gloves,” Rei objected, though half-heartedly.

Determined now, Usagi pulled her gloves and scarf off and handed them both to Rei. “Put those on and tell me if I miss anything,” she said while she took hold of the broom and went after the path with committed purpose. She’d made Mamoru breakfast, cleaned house, done her mother’s laundry _and_ her own, avoided a fight with her brother and invited her family to her home for _Oshigatsu_ (and yes, saved the galaxy a couple of years ago) - she could definitely handle one stupid walkway.

It seemed to take forever and her hands ached when she was done, but the walkway was definitely clear. The way Rei smiled while she handed the gloves back to Usagi - pleased and surprised and laughing all at once - was definitely worth it.

“There’s a fire inside. Come in.”

Rei led her around the back of the shrine to one of the private living areas, nodding regal approval to a couple of the more junior attendants as they went, and Usagi carefully slipped out of her shoes and coat before padding across to the fire in her bare feet and warming her hands. She didn’t know which of them started giggling first - it was so rare for Rei to giggle, but she must have looked pretty funny standing there trying to warm up everything at once - and pretty soon they were both sitting in a heap on the floor by the fire, trying to keep their laughter down like a couple of schoolgirls in class. Which they’d never been - Rei had always gone to Catholic school and Usagi had never been any good at keeping her laughter down in school anyway - but it felt wonderful to imagine that they had.

“Rei-chan,” she finally whispered, her head resting on Rei’s arm, “why don’t I come more often?”

“Because both of us are very busy, and because we’d soon run out of things to talk about. Now tell me all your news,” Rei said, her voice as firm as her fingertips in Usagi’s long ponytails were gentle. It was usually best to go along with Rei when she started giving instructions - fire wasn’t just the element of her guardian world - so Usagi did as she was told.

Well, mostly. There really wasn’t any reason that Rei needed to know about Saki-chan’s manga. She might disapprove.

Rei listened to all of it as she always did, gently scolding and warmly approving by turns, and Usagi held up her end by whining plaintively every once in a while - not that she couldn’t have helped it if she’d wanted to, but they had comfortable habits to maintain. It was so familiar, in fact, that when Rei finally tucked a finger under her chin and asked a question she wasn’t ready for, she squeaked embarrassingly.

“Mamoru-sama hasn’t been neglecting you, has he?”

“Rei-chan....” Usagi’s voice cracked just a little bit when she tried to pull an answer together - which would have been easier if she hadn’t been looking up into those gorgeous violet eyes right then - and she had to clench her hands until they ached to find any kind of focus. “He’s very busy studying, but I know he’s working hard for me. And when we are together, he’s very kind. I promise he isn’t neglecting me, Rei-chan.”

“Good. Because if he did....” The way Rei’s eyes burned made her shiver, and she unfolded her hands to press them reassuringly against the raven-haired guardian’s shoulders. Whatever else Rei might have been tempted to add settled into a taut silence, and after a little while she managed to draw Rei into a talk about what the training to eventually be head priestess involved at the moment. But it was that look in Rei’s eyes that she was thinking of when she finally started down the steps of the temple to catch the last bus before evening faded into full dark.

That look and the way her hands had trembled against Rei’s kimono.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Language Note:** In Japanese, the particle _ne_ can be attached to the end of sentences to indicate a question that expects agreement - sort of like the English phrase "you know."

It was colder than usual that morning, and Ami pulled her coat - her favorite, blue and with its collar lined in faux fox - tighter around her to ward off a gust of wind that threatened to bite her to the bone. She glanced up at the sign for the next building - _Dragon King Ramen_ \- and sighed her relief. She was on time.

The noise of the street faded as she passed through the L-shaped entry hall and stopped to slip off her shoes and replace them with disposable slippers. The attendant bowed to her, accepting her coat and shoes and a polite nod in return, and when she rounded another two corners to enter the restaurant itself, the sound of the city outside vanished entirely under the soft background music of a _koto_ \- recorded, but still traditional and civilized. She padded over the tatami floor, passing discreetly half-enclosed booths, until she came to the one at the end and knocked carefully.

“Please come in.”

She stepped around it and found Mamoru Chiba already sitting at the low table with a tray of ramen and tea in front of him and his books arranged, open and conveniently placed, to the side. He continued eating - carefully, without the usual slurping that traditional table manners said made for the best tasting ramen - while she knelt down across from him and straightened her skirt. “It is very good to see you, Mamoru-sempai.”

“And you, Ami.” Settling his _hashi_ neatly on their holder, he looked up at her and smiled. He had the prettiest smile she’d ever seen - even prettier than Usagi’s or Minako’s - and it made something flutter in her. Part of her wanted to ask him to stop smiling; another wanted to just bask in it for hours. “How are your studies?”

“They’re going well. Taking most of my time… I’m signed up for four entrance exams already,” Ami admitted, still watching him. It was polite. Manners were important. “And studying for all at once. It’s… fun. I’m very tired.”

“Remember to make time to sleep.” His smile turned gently concerned, which was better and worse. Her cheeks heated up and she folded her hands in her lap. “A scholar who doesn’t rest isn’t at his - or her - best.”

He really was too pretty. She thought it ought to be illegal for a boy to be so pretty - he was borderline criminal even for a girl. Surely he had to be a traffic hazard of some kind. It didn’t even matter that his advice was something she could have found in a fifty-year-old medical textbook - him giving it helped. “I’m getting sleep. Maybe not enough.”

“Somehow, I have the feeling that any more suggestions I have about your physical health will be filed under ‘well-meaning, ignored.’” He sighed, affecting a dispirited attitude momentarily, then washed it away with a quiet laugh. “At least wait to order food before you begin asking me medical questions.”

“All right,” Ami said with a quiet laugh of her own, leaning forward over the table. “Can I ask you personal questions before food, then?” She’d realized during their first of these lunch meetings that it mattered less to her what they talked about than that they talked. He was engaging, pleasant, brilliant, and shared more of her interests than anyone else she’d ever met. That his voice simultaneously soothed away her tensions and inspired a delightful tightness in her stomach did nothing to discourage her from wanting to hear it more often, either. It wasn’t that she was planning to _do_ anything about that exquisite tension, really. It was just nice to feel it.

“That depends on the questions, but I’m certainly willing to hear them.” Mamoru wasn’t someone whose expression often ventured into what most people would describe as playful, but she could have sworn that he was teasing her.

“Well… I was going to ask about you and Usagi,” Ami began. “But you seem to have left the field much more open.” She couldn’t quite hold back her laugh.

“Mizuno-san,” he said, eyes wide in mock-surprise, “I am shocked to think you might try to take advantage of me that way.”

“You are my sempai,” Ami giggled. “I need every advantage I can get.”

He lifted his hand to his chest and bowed his head, the very image of wounded nobility, and even knowing that he was joking, something ached for a brief moment in her heart. “Very well. Ask your intrusive and inappropriate questions. For the sake of my honor as your sempai, I will answer them as best I can.”

“Well…” She began, stalling for time. She hadn’t expected the joke to last long enough that she’d need an actual inappropriate question. “I was wondering when… you had your first kiss?” She rushed through the last words - whatever game they were playing, she wasn’t going to lose.

He rested a hand lightly against the table, stroking the lacquered wood as if it was helping him think, and waited until the hostess had come and gone with Ami’s ramen order before finally answering. “I was fourteen and it was cherry blossom season. She was delicate, golden-haired, buying flowers. I don’t know why, but I asked her for a kiss and she gave me one. We only said maybe a half-dozen words.”

Ami’s amusement faded slowly as he spoke, until when he finished she could barely speak above a murmur. “That… might be the prettiest story I’ve ever heard.” She wondered, for a moment, what it had been like for that girl - and if Mamoru had ever kissed a girl without golden hair.

“Very romantic, _ne_? If life were a drama, perhaps I would meet her many years later and fall in love.” Mamoru smiled again, and this time it gave his face a wistful distance - an observer looking at the world with dry, bittersweet amusement. “Do you ever think about things like that, Ami-chan?”

Only constantly, but could she tell him that? Could she tell anyone, really, or would it disrupt their otherwise-true images of who she was with something that would mislead them more than concealing one small detail of herself had? No sooner had she asked herself the question than she knew the answer - he was Mamoru. He understood her. “Not infrequently.”

“So do I.” He spread his lovely surgeon’s hands gracefully, deep blue eyes full of gathered light. “My whole life I’ve been living with one foot in dreams, not knowing where I was or who I was meant to be, and since Usagi came into my life, the dreams sometimes seem more real than where I’m standing. I like anatomy and chemistry - bodies and chemicals stay where I put them. They seem like solid things.”

It was moments like this - more than his smiles, more than his stories, moments when he talked about medicine and the world and science - that she wanted most to kiss him. She would not call those moments dangerous - she knew his love for Usagi, that he had eyes only for the Princess of the Moon, and that even if he was interested temptation was far from an insurmountable challenge - but it ached, a little. A nice ache. “That, and puzzles. Puzzles built on the world we see. That’s why I want to study internal medicine.”

“So ambitious.” He was smiling again, warm with pride and delight. It made thing flutter in her chest. “I will leave such puzzles to you and content myself with being a simple mechanic of the body. Like a repairer of engines, _ne_?”

“My food is here,” Ami pointed out, looking down at it as an excuse to look away from his face. Only for a moment… looking at him too long was like trying to sprint across a district. “Can we talk about medicine now?”

“You were going to ask me about Usagi,” he pointed out, though he picked up his _hashi_ as if to resume eating - an invitation for escape, if she wanted it.

“We probably should get to your professional advice at some point,” she said, managing to keep most of the reluctance out of her voice. She did want to ask about Usagi, almost as much as she wanted not to. Thoughts of Mamoru with Usagi were both sweet and painful - and that particular pain was touched by guilt. Wanting him so badly, part of her soul told her, was a kind of betrayal.

“Very well. Biological Chemistry will be an important subject in your first semester. Last time, we talked about weak areas in English you might want to make special study of. Perhaps we should begin by making a similar list in Biochem.” He gestured with his free hand for her to consider her answer. For a few minutes, they would eat in silence.

This was comfortable territory, where she could immerse herself in her favorite ideas and let the joy of his presence settle atop that like a blanket. She smiled, taking a notebook from her bag and starting her list.

* * *

Usagi was halfway through her _onigiri_ and sausages when Sakiko hurried into the breakroom, barely pausing to nod a hello before rushing over to the cubby where her personal effects were stored. Ignoring her lunch, she pulled a newspaper from it, already unfolding it to read before she sat down.

“You should eat, Saki-chan,” Usagi told her between bites. “You’ll need your energy, the way today has been.”

“Eat later,” Sakiko said quickly, focusing on the paper. “There are pictures. There must be pictures…”

Usagi took a bite of her udon noodles and then of her hard-boiled egg, trying not to be curious. It didn’t work as well as she would have liked. “Pictures of what?”

“Sailor Venus, and the others,” she said, then perked up. “There! It’s blurry, but… Sailor Venus! And Sailor Jupiter!” She turned the paper toward Usagi. “See?”

It was not, on the whole, the worst picture of her friends that Usagi had ever seen in the paper. The photographer had obviously been using a long lens and in a hurry, so the focus was off, and the flashes of light from their power being reflected from the glass of the building behind them didn’t help, but the shape of them and the designs of their uniforms were clearly identifiable. Compared to some of the masses of blurred motion and light she’d seen in the papers over the years claiming to be pictures of them, it was almost artistic.

Except that as far as she knew there hadn’t been any monster activity that needed more than a quick one-girl patrol for months, and the headline was definitely talking about something more recent than that.

She bit down on her _hashi_ , winced, then carefully set them down and held her cheek. _Owwww._

“Tsukino-san, are you okay?” Sakiko blinked in surprise. “I know they’re very pretty, but you should be careful.”

“Yes,” Usagi agreed muzzily, still holding her cheek and trying not to frown because frowning would be suspicious and also hurt more. _Ow. Ow. You are all in trouble. Ow._

“Should I get the first aid kit?” Sakiko started to her feet.

“No, I’m okay.” Usagi carefully removed her fingers from her cheek and brushed her tongue over her teeth. Nothing broken. “Have there been a lot of those stories lately?”

“I saw the headline and needed to read the paper. There was another story about them last week, and another… maybe three weeks before? I’m starting to worry about Sailor Moon, though… she wasn’t in any of the stories.”

“I’m sure she’s all right,” Usagi said, folding her hands in her lap to keep from clenching them. _But she is very, very unhappy right now._

Before she could frame her next question, Miyu Kita came through the break room door in a rush. “Tsukino-san, please hurry. Tanaka-san and Hisakawa-san are having a discussion at your station and Honda-san is very embarrassed.”

“Saki-chan,” Usagi said, already on her feet, “please put my bento away.” She was out the door without looking back before Sakiko could do anything, but she wasn’t worried about that right now. The girl would take care of it for her, and even if she didn’t, it was only food. Keeping her pace diligently quick but not undignified was difficult, but she applied herself to it the way she’d learned to apply herself to going into battle against monsters - with Ami’s discipline and Rei’s grace and Makoto’s sincerity.

“There is a feeling among the managers,” Tanaka was saying, his incomplete combover shining bright under the stores lights, “that Hisakawa-san is inspiring less than adequate company loyalty among her employees.” His glare was directed at Rie as he spoke, though Noriko had her hands folded together in nervous shame as well. “And that this must be addressed.”

Noriko began to speak up, but the senior manager continued after a moment’s pause. “In these difficult times, it is more important than ever to exercise discipline and diligence. We must all do our very best to see that the company succeeds, and that we can act together with one spirit. It is extremely important to avoid disharmony.”

Rie seemed to be trying to vanish into the shoes behind her, holding her hands behind her back and shrinking herself to as small a size as she could. Her eyes were wide, and tears threatened to escape them. Her skin was pale with shame and fear, and Usagi’s heart clenched with indignation. She strode up behind Tanaka-san, stopped a precise three feet behind him, then dropped into a deep bow. “Good afternoon, Tanaka-sama!”

He very nearly jumped out of his skin, and did spin quickly enough that his combover came completely out of place, revealing his bald pate entirely to the world. “Who? Oh, Tsukino. Off lunch already?”

“Yes.” She straightened up, smiling her most charming smile. “Please, Tanaka-sama, what seems to be the trouble?”

“A deficit of company spirit. But I am sure it will be corrected…” He punctuated the last word with a pointed glance at Noriko.

Usagi’s jaw clenched, and she came all the way up to her full hundred and fifty centimeters of height. If she’d stopped to consider it, she might have been aware of her voice deepening and sharpening or of her eyes burning with emotion, but she didn’t. She didn’t think about it at all. She spoke with her heart instead. “Tanaka-sama, Honda-san and Hisakawa-san are your most dedicated employees. Honda-san works many hours every week and is always cheerful and excellent with her customers, even when she is unhappy or when the needs of her family are difficult for her, and Hisakawa-san’s leadership makes every girl on this floor determined to do her very best for the company; we all work harder because she shares her spirit with us. How can you be so harsh to such loyal women, when they deserve so much of your kindness?”

There was absolute silence for nearly a full minute. Then finally, red-faced in a combination of shame, embarrassment, and anger, Tanaka muttered “Continue your good work, Hisakawa,” and then began to slink away, straightening his hair with his fingers as he went.

Usagi stood her ground and watched him go, fiercely pleased, and kept her eyes on him until he passed out of sight. When Noriko finally spoke up, it was so quietly and unexpectedly that it nearly made her jump. “Thank you, Tsukino.”

Heat rose in Usagi’s cheeks, and she bowed deeply as she turned back to Noriko. “I just spoke my feelings, Hisakawa-san. Please forgive my directness.”

“I think forgiving you will be remarkably easy, Tsukino,” Noriko said with a small smile. “I have no idea how you do what you do.”

“Ahh....” She straightened up and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, blushing and smiling and giggling all at once. “Thank you, I think. Are you okay, Rie-chan?”

“A little,” Rie said, scratching her neck. “Getting better. Thank you, Usagi.”

“It was unfair,” she said, the blush fading as she tried to push all her sincerity into every word so Rie wouldn’t doubt it. “You work very hard, Rie, and more hours than any of the rest of us. He shouldn’t have said that to you.”

“I think how many hours I work is part of the problem.” Rie bit her lip, then smiled. “But I do love my job, and the store.”

“I don’t see how that could be a problem,” Usagi said, determined to call the question settled. “But we should probably get back to work so Hisakawa-san can go back to inspiring leadership and stop selling my coats.”

Noriko laughed. “They’re so pretty, though… and you didn’t have time to finish your lunch. But if you want to come back on shift, your rack is yours.”

 _Lunch...._ Usagi buried a longing sigh, but bounced twice on her heels to remind herself that her food would still be there later. It wouldn’t be polite to just turn around and go back to lunch now that she’d talked up their company spirit. “Thank you, Hisakawa-san.” She took her place at her station, summoned her best smile and winked at Rie once Noriko started off. Standing up for a friend always felt good, but it would feel even better if she sold a lot of coats before she left for the night.

* * *

It was raining when she finally left her department store, the umbrella she kept at work for unexpectedly wet nights streaming water down around her in thick trails, but she didn’t stop smiling all the way back to her front step. Seven coats - seven! - and twice as many pairs of boots. Let Tanaka-san complain about the lack of company spirit after _that_. She left her hat and coat and gloves on while she got inside this time, because the rain was coming in on the wind, and hung them all up to dry over the umbrella rack before she eased out of her shoes. “ _Tadaima!_ ”

“Welcome home, Usagi,” Luna said, jumping onto the windowsill. “Did work go well?”

“Very well.” Usagi padded into the kitchen and started water for tea, still smiling to herself, and brushed a hand along one of her damp ponytails to shake some of the moisture away. “One of my friends was reading the paper. They had an article about us today. I ought to call everyone and congratulate them, don’t you think?”

“Article?” Luna’s ears folded back, and she curled up in as deliberately nonchalant a posture as Usagi had ever seen from her.

“In the paper,” Usagi affirmed, putting some bread into the toaster while she got out the jam. “Everyone looked very heroic.”

“Was it another retrospective on our battle with Nehellenia? I’ve seen a few of those online,” Luna said, then yawned. It wasn’t a very convincing yawn.

“It was this week.” The water boiled, and she started pouring it over her tea without looking at Luna directly. “There was another one last week. Did you forget to tell me about something that happened?”

“A little….”

Usagi took her time with her toast and pouring her tea. She took her time with putting her bento away in the refrigerator, too. She even carried her tea and her toast out to the living room table and sat down, folding her legs together neatly while Luna reluctantly followed her into the room.

“What I want to know,” she said, her voice low and soft even in the near-silence of the house, “is whether it was your idea, Luna-san.”

“Not entirely,” Luna said, jumping onto the table without quite losing her abashed expression. “Partially.”

“A little?” Usagi mimicked, sipping her tea.

“A little,” Luna agreed. “Rei, Makoto, and Ami are innocent.”

Another careful sip of her tea. Another breath. Usagi closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Please tell my general that I would like her here as quickly as she can travel, Luna-san. Tonight.”

“Yes, Princess,” Luna said, leaping from the table. “I’ll call her now.”

Usagi went back to her toast and her tea. After a few minutes, her legs still folded under her and her lips still pressed together tightly, she picked up one of her old _Ribon_ magazines and started to read. Outside, the rain whispered against the walls.

She finished the magazine and started another.

Moriya-chan and Seiya were just about to finish off the monster when Usagi heard the door click open - no knock, this time - and a chill wind seeped in before the door clicked closed. She could hear the rustle of a coat being hung up, an umbrella put away and shoes removed, and then the faint sound of bare feet on the wood of her floor that was almost lost in the deepening beat of the rain outside.

Minako Aino, even in a damp Juuban High School uniform and with rainwater still clinging to her golden hair, looked impossibly elegant as she padded through the dining room and into the living room, kneeling down in front of Usagi’s couch and lowering her eyes. “Princess.”

“My general.” Usagi made her voice as formal as she could while she laid aside the magazine - one she and Minako had bought together on a warm summer day only a few months ago - and folded her hands in her lap. Part of her ached to see Mina-chan so damp and out of sorts, but she refused to let it show. Not yet, at least.

“You call and I come,” Minako said, keeping all but a hair’s width of nervousness out of her manner.

Usagi’s fingers tightened in her lap until she was sure the knuckles must be cruelly white. “But when you risk your lives, you don’t call me?”

Minako’s cheeks went a deep shade of red, and a tremble entered her voice. “We had matters well in hand.”

“I don’t care!” Her voice rose in spite of her, as if she were shouting over a storm instead of the night rain, and her hands tightened further. “You’re my precious friends and I ought to be there beside you. It isn’t right that you hide the fighting you’re doing from me!”

“I was doing it because we’re your friends!” Minako lifted her head, hurt anger in her eyes as she met Usagi’s gaze. Her pretty face blurred as tears started pooling against Usagi’s lashes, and Usagi wiped them away angrily while she did her stubborn best to glare at the most experienced of the senshi. They sat like that for what seemed like forever, blue eyes burning into blue, until finally Minako spoke, her voice more measured. “I… you’ve looked so tired sometimes. And you have so little time… I wanted to save some of that time for you. We did.”

It wasn’t fair that her heart could melt inside her when she was trying to be angry, but the pleading in Minako’s face was too much for her to harden herself against. Usagi looked down at her own hands and slowly made herself relax them, trying not to start crying in earnest, and her voice was a whisper that seemed more childish than regal when she listened to herself. “It isn’t fair for you to take those kinds of risks without me. I don’t want anything to happen to any of you.”

“We’re your soldiers, Princess,” Minako said, barely more than a breath, and her delicate hands gathered Usagi’s up and stroked them soothingly. “We fight your battles. That’s what soldiers do.”

“I don’t want that.” Tears spilled down Usagi’s cheeks, and she wanted to hide her face but couldn’t bring herself to pull her hands away. _I want to keep all of you safe. I want to keep everyone safe. I don’t want soldiers - I want friends._

Instead of speaking, Minako held Usagi’s eyes for a long moment before kissing the back of her hand. Her breath was warm and her own hands were trembling, and Usagi’s heart ached to see her elegant Mina-chan bearing distress with such courage. She left her right hand where it was, held in both of Minako’s, and lifted the other to stroke along the soft skin of one perfect cheek. “Minako,” she whispered. _I forgive you. Don’t do that to me again._

“I will not keep you in the dark again, Princess. Usagi.” Minako finally lowered her eyes, closing them slowly as she bowed her head. “But I will always keep you safe.”

“You really are the most stubborn, infuriating.....” Usagi trailed off, laughing in spite of herself, and slid her fingertips up under Minako’s chin to lift her face so she could press her lips carefully to her general’s forehead. “When we all found out the hard way that you weren’t really the princess, do you know what I thought about? After everything settled down, I mean.” _After all of you died for me and forgot and remembered, after I lost Mamo-chan and got him back...._ She blinked the tears out of her eyes and smiled. “I thought you were the lucky one, Mina-chan.”

“I thought the same thing,” Minako said quietly, resting her cheek against Usagi’s hand. “You carry the heaviest weight of all of us.”

“If you had your way, I wouldn’t carry any of it,” Usagi scolded her gently, still smiling. “My days would be full of learning how to pour tea and arrange flowers.”

“If I had my way, we’d all run around at night chasing minor demons and criminals forever, and live glamorous lives the rest of the time.”

“Whatever you say, Sailor V-chan!” Usagi collapsed back onto the couch, shaking with laughter, and hugged her knees to her chest to keep from doubling over. “Idol group by day, crimefighters by night - the Pretty Soldiers in Sailor Suits!”

“It has a ring to it, doesn’t it?” Minako was laughing, too, and finally joined Usagi on the sofa with a flick of her head that tossed her golden hair glamorously - something Usagi was absolutely sure she practiced, even if there wasn’t any proof yet. “Though I think they’d try to make Rei lead singer.”

“Rei has the best voice. And she’s sooooo beautiful,” Usagi sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead as if to ward off a faint. “We’d just have to be her backup singers. At least we’d match, _ne_?”

“We could even do a little dance together,” Minako said. “Then no one would be looking at Rei - they’d be looking behind her.”

“‘A little dance,’ you say. Why do I think you mean something _ecchi,_ Mina-chan?” Usagi peeked out from under her fingers, grinning.

“Because you know me a little too well,” Minako said with a giggle, lounging on the couch and preening playfully. “It’d be fun.”

Usagi was giggling, too, and she swatted Minako’s arm in half-serious rebuke. “You’re so naughty, Mina-chan. I ought to introduce you to Saki-chan - you two deserve each other!”

“Oh, maybe you should. If we deserve each other.” Minako leaned against Usagi’s arm, managing to angle her body to allow her to grin up at her Princess.

“Shameless!” Usagi smacked her again, sides aching from how much Minako was making her laugh, and dropped her voice to a scandalized whisper. “She reads _ecchi_ manga about you.”

“Oh, even better,” Minako said, though her cheeks colored at the idea. “I knew it was out there, but never met a fan.”

“You don’t actually read it yourself, do you?” Usagi pantomimed outraged horror.

“Maybe a little. For research.”

Usagi blushed and waved her arms in little warding off gestures. “Research! Oh, spirits, you really are shameless. What are you researching for? Is there some perverted boy you’re trying to impress, Mina-chan?”

The light of Usagi’s lamp caught and gathered in Minako’s hair as she ducked her head and bit her bottom lip, her cheeks burning and her hands working at the edge of her skirt. It was so unlike her usual laughing confidence about anything to do with boys (and sometimes girls) that apologies tangled themselves up in Usagi’s mouth. She wanted to say or do anything at all to take back whatever it was that had made Mina-chan feel like she couldn’t express herself, and she finally gave up on words entirely. Throwing her arms around Minako’s shoulders and hugging her tightly was the best she could do. Minako’s body stiffened for a second or two, fingers pressing back against her sides, but then the _Senshi_ of Love slowly relaxed and let her arms slide around Usagi’s waist so that their bodies settled against each other. They were so close in height, just a couple of centimeters apart, and they fit together like two _hashi_ in one case.

“I am not trying to impress a boy with the manga,” Minako finally said, her smile warm against Usagi’s cheek.

“Good.” Hearing the word in her own voice startled Usagi, and her face heated with sudden embarrassment. “I’m sorry, that was terrible of me. Of course I want you and Ami and Makoto and Rei to find boyfriends that you like and who deserve you and who make you as happy as  Mamoru makes me. I don’t know why I said that. Please forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you,” Minako said, kissing Usagi’s cheek lightly, squeezing her arms around Usagi’s hips to keep the sudden awkwardness from forcing space between them. “I didn’t think it was terrible.”

Usagi closed her eyes and tried to relax, her cheeks still burning softly. “I don’t know why I said that, Mina-chan. It seems cruel.”

“Maybe you just want to not have to share me with anyone? Because I’d be all right with that,” Minako murmured against Usagi’s jaw.

Now Usagi was blushing harder again, and her voice trembled a little as she drew a hand slowly through the long fall of Minako’s hair. This close, she was breathing the sweet violet and vanilla of Minako’s perfume (always Guerlain Insolence, ever since they’d first met, because Minako loved the idea of Paris and the name), and it always left her a little bit dizzy with awe. Minako was so perfect, so elegant, like an idol or a fairy-tale princess, and it left her feeling clumsy and unsure of what she ought to do or say. She was sure - absolutely, without question - that Minako must be able to hear her heart pounding.

If she was, the only indication she gave of it was to rest her head closer to the sound. “Speaking of boyfriends… will yours be home soon?”

“Not tonight,” Usagi whispered, her fingers slowly carding deeper into smooth gold warmth, and she closed her eyes so she could rest her head on Minako’s softly. “You shouldn’t go home in this weather.”

“I’ll stay here, then,” Minako pressed closer still, almost wrapping around Usagi; they were breathing together - quiet, calm, peaceful - and she could feel the heat of Minako’s cheek against the hollow of her throat. The last thing she wanted to do in the world now was move, and she tugged her fingers lightly in Minako’s hair for emphasis when she made a little sound to clarify that. Minako just shifted a little, easing the last of the strain on either of their muscles away, and let the rain fill up the quiet.

Eventually, Luna turned out the light.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's curious, the manga that Usagi is reading in _Ribon_ is _Nurse Angle Ririka SOS_ , a magical girl story that ran in _Ribon_ while _Sailor Moon_ was running in _Nakayoshi_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Cultural Notes** : For anyone who's spent time in Japan or has a good sense of Japanese proprietary around body language, the amount of hugging and touching and generally hanging on people that Usagi does (in both the two anime and our story) is weird bordering on totally rude. Usagi gets away with that because, well, she's Usagi. So for those of you who have a more American sense of body space, if some of the reactions people have to Usagi's space invasions in our story seem to involve an unusual level of discomfort or blushing, that's usually the reason.

The house smelled of herbs, meat and rice, and Luna stalked down the stairs toward the kitchen. Usagi had already gone out - her humming and intermittent bumps against whatever surface happened to be nearby were audible to Luna from anywhere in the house, and apart from Minako’s soft breathing from the sofa, the house was silent. At least Luna’s breakfast would be quiet.

She circled through the dining room and into the living room, past the sofa; Minako was still there, of course, but she was wrapped around a cushion that she had somehow pulled away from behind her and nuzzling it lightly. Her almost-silent snoring had a plaintive air, and Luna listened for a moment before moving on. It was good to understand Usagi’s general, and humans often revealed more in their sleep than they did while awake.

Then she leapt onto the table and tugged the ceramic cover over her breakfast away. The hard ceramic grated uncomfortably against her teeth, but it kept her food warm and that made it worthwhile. She gave her fish a delighted sniff - Usagi’s cooking was getting better every day - and settled in to eat.

Food tasted best with productivity, so Luna considered plans for the day. She’d planned to discuss strategy with Minako at the arcade that afternoon, but Minako was just a room away now - no point in putting it off much past time for Minako to eat and come fully awake. That meant… she shuddered a little at the thought. He always left his scent all over the house when he visited.

It meant she had to call Artemis.

The eventuality admitted to, there was little point in putting it off, so she finished her fish quickly before jumping from the table and retrieving her communicator from its place to the left of space-time. She didn’t open it - seeing him was unpleasantly pleasant, and she didn’t see a need to do any more of that than absolutely necessary - but simply called him. “Artemis…”

“Good morning, Luna. You still have my human, don’t you?” He was dispiritingly cheerful this morning. She put her nose against her paws.

“Usagi’s commander is here, yes,” Luna said. She wasn’t sure why she played these games of one-upmanship with him. The idea of him winning - whatever winning meant - made her skin itch.

“I didn’t think you’d let her wander off, so I wasn’t worried. She’s still asleep, isn’t she?” He made that sound he always made when he stretched - a mewling growl that was infuriatingly appealing. “I’ll come over to get her in a few more minutes. I need to finish my tuna.”

“We should just meet here,” Luna said, lifting her head to allow herself to sound as disinterested as she wasn’t. “I’ll make sure she’s up within an hour, so… about ninety minutes?”

“Sure. Ninety minutes will be fine. I’ll just hop the train over. See you soon, Luna-chan.” He clicked off before she could hiss at him, which was of course what he would do. He always knew just how to end a conversation in a way that would be most frustrating.

And she’d finished her fish. She should have saved it to restore her good mood after the call. Under the circumstances, she had to settle for prowling around the house to make sure that the mice which had tried to sneak in last winter were still suitably intimidated and that no one was attempting to spy on them. The laundry hadn’t been done today, but Usagi had hung two loads the day before, so that was acceptable. On the whole, the house was approaching proper order again. She bounded back down the stairs feeling much better about things, planning for a productive hour on the computer until it was time to wake Minako up, and found the leader of the Senshi sitting up on the sofa. Her right cheek was red with the imprint of the weave of the cushions, her left with a subtle blush that Luna was sure most humans would find fetching. She managed to hold her dignity in her voice when she greeted Luna. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Minako-san. Breakfast is on the table.”

“Usagi-chan....” Minako began, then trailed off and stood up, trying to restore some order to her clothes. “Breakfast smells good.”

“Artemis is coming soon,” Luna said, glancing toward the door. “Usagi put her heart into this morning’s breakfast.”

“Yes.” Giving up on her clothes for the moment, Minako walked into the dining room and stopped at the covered tray, running her fingertips around the edge and extracting a small white envelope from under the corner. She opened the sticker holding it closed with the sharp edges of her neatly manicured nails, slid the once-folded piece of paper inside out and read it without taking her eyes from the page once. The flush came back into her cheeks again, tugging her lips up into a smile; finished, she carefully replaced the note in the envelope before tucking it inside her blouse and finally lifted the lid from her tray. “ _Itadakimasu._ ”

Luna wanted to ask what the paper said, almost as strongly as she knew it wasn’t her business. Only knowing that if Usagi wrote it chances were good she’d be told eventually anyway kept her from asking. “She didn’t add potatoes to mine. How are they?”

“Very tender.” Minako winked and made a terrible show of enjoying the next one. “So tasty!”

Luna looked up into Minako’s eyes, weighing the value of dignity against potatoes. Then she sallied a plaintive meow.

“Of course you can have one.” Laughing, Minako carefully extracted a small cube of potato from her soup bowl and setting it on Luna’s tray. “But you know you can’t digest it properly, so just one.”

“Sometimes the value of a thing is not the profit, but the experience,” Luna said with a laugh before taking a bite. “This is definitely one of those times.”

Minako covered her mouth with her hand, muffling a spasm of giggling that was decidedly schoolgirlish. “Ami-chan thinks I spend too much time chasing minor criminals and not enough time studying. Perhaps I will tell her you said that.”

“You haven’t pointed out to her that you think she spends too much time studying?” Luna settled down on the table and began cleaning her paws and whiskers. Potatoes were tasty, but so messy.

“But I don’t,” Minako said carefully between bites of her own breakfast. “She wants to be a doctor - that’s her dream. I think she should study hard so she doesn’t feel like it could be her fault if her dream gets away from her. I just don’t want to study that hard.”

Luna nodded, eyeing the two partly-eaten fish on Minako’s plate with more intent that she ought to have. Minako only smiled and lifted one on the backs of her _hashi_ , setting it on Luna’s plate. Under the circumstances, it would have been impolite to refuse.

“I’m very glad they are all chasing their dreams. Regardless of what the future holds… holding onto the things they want most is good,” she said when she could spare attention from the fish.

Whatever it was that made Minako’s smile turn sad and wistful would have to wait for later investigation, because the special panel in the door slapped open and closed with such an irritating vigor that Luna had to focus herself entirely on her food to avoid having the hairs on her back stand on end. If she’d been trying to explain the way Artemis walked to a human, she would have called it a swagger; as a cat, it was just the bravado of a being whose self-image trailed its size in evolution by a few thousand generations. He jumped up and stalked across the thin back of the chair beside Luna, because of course he did, before speaking with the air of someone who hadn’t just walked into someone else’s house through a door one-sixth as tall as the main entrance. “Good morning, Minako! You’d better have slept well. I smell mackerel, don’t I?” He stopped a slightly less than respectful distance from Luna and brushed his tail against hers, checking her mood.

Luna twitched her tail away. “Hello, Artemis,” she said, letting only the slightest edge of her frustration with his presence into her speech. “The fish is almost gone.”

“Well, then, I arrived just in time.” He twisted around her to try to take a bite of her mackerel - a bite aborted by a quick swipe of her paw at his face; he never would learn that her food required invitation, and he compounded her irritation by wandering across the table unchastened to chew on the head of Minako’s fish instead.

“No nightmares,” Minako assured him, smiling at what she doubtless considered their ‘cute antics’ while she scratched behind Artemis’s ears, “but I probably ought to go for a run at some point if the rain doesn’t settle in.”

Artemis’s approving sounds were muffled by his mouthful of fish, and Luna covered her eyes with her paw. It was going to be a very difficult morning.

* * *

 _Lunch, lunch, lunch, lunch._ Usagi hummed happily to herself as she left the sales floor for the break room. Her customers had been delightful and generous, her food was waiting for her in her bento and she could definitely slip out to the hall and call Minako now that she was on her lunch break. The little ache in her spine from sleeping curled up on the couch had even gone away after the first hour. A perfect victory!

Her stomach rumbled a little, and she scooped up her bento on her way toward the stairwell. It wasn’t really proper for a girl to eat standing up, but she wanted to call Minako and she didn’t want to wait, so propriety would just have to suffer. She pushed open the door carefully, expecting the bare concrete stairwell to be empty as it usually was, but caught a quiet sniffle from the next landing. For a few seconds she hesitated, holding her bento in both hands and shifting on her heels, but then concern won out over politeness and she was clicking her way up the stairs to the landing. “Is everything okay?”

Standing up and rubbing her eyes to clear tears away and trying to straighten her uniform all at once, Miyako was trying to look everywhere she could but at Usagi. Her makeup had run, just a little, staining her cheekbones in light purple; it made her look bruised, and Usagi had to struggle with herself not to run to her. “When you left shift, was there a tall man with a red tie near my display?”

“I didn’t notice,” Usagi admitted, carefully taking a few more steps across the landing but not wanting to crowd her. “Did he upset you?”

“You shouldn’t trouble yourself, Tsukino-san,” Miyako murmured, looking down and away from Usagi. “I just wondered.”

“But he did, didn’t he?” She couldn’t help taking another step closer. At least she didn’t touch Miyako without asking, as much as she wanted to. “Please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

Miyako extended a hand out slowly, then gripped Usagi’s tightly once their fingers touched. “I… he wants to talk to me. I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Then he should go away. We can talk to security together,” Usagi whispered, squeezing Miyako’s hand carefully in hers, bento almost forgotten.

“No! We can’t talk to security.” Miyako shook her head, biting her lip, and her distress was so immediate and obvious that Usagi couldn’t help hugging her. They stood there for a second, Miyako rigid and awkward and tense, until Usagi could make herself let go, nod, accept whatever reason Miyako had for not wanting to involve security wordlessly and without remark.

“Sorry…” Miyako said as Usagi stepped back, biting her lip. “It’s just… security would be trouble.”

Usagi frowned quietly and hugged Miyako again more carefully, her heart beating hard with indignation. “Even a god ought to respect a girl’s wishes.”

“What made you so kind, Tsukino-san?” Miyako whispered, burying her face against Usagi’s neck. Even as sad as she was, it was terribly pretty, and Usagi felt a little guilty for stroking her fingers through Miyako’s soft black hair but also didn’t stop. It wasn’t really a question she knew how to answer, but she felt as though she ought to try.

Eventually, hesitantly, she nuzzled Miyako’s temple. “Everyone seems so much happier when people are kind. I think you have to be made cruel, don’t you?”

“If so, the cruelty teachers are very well trained,” Miyako said without taking her face from Usagi’s shoulder.

 _Nehelenia. Wiseman. Pharaoh 90. Chaos._ Usagi pressed her tears into Miyako’s hair, aching with memories. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, they are. But sometimes people can unlearn their lessons.”

“They would have to want to, wouldn’t they?” Miyako asked, lifting her head away from Usagi’s shoulder.

Usagi smiled, but her lashes were wet when she blinked her eyes. “They do. I wish everyone would.” Fishing her handkerchief out of her pocket, she carefully wiped Miyako’s cheeks with it. “Is he being cruel to you?”

“A little,” Miyako whispered, then added, “Yes. He is. But it’s best for me to ignore it. He’ll stop eventually.”

“If he doesn’t soon, will you let me help?” Usagi dabbed her own eyes and fixed Miyako with her most determined smile - the one that always worked on Mamo-chan.

“I could hardly stop you,” Miyako said, smiling through her remaining tears. “That’s why everyone loves you.”

“Um.... well. I do my best,” Usagi mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat in a fierce blush.

Miyako hugged Usagi once more, hard but quick, and then pulled back. “I need to clean up and go back to work. My break is almost over.”

“If he comes back, you’ll leave me a note or tell me. Promise?”

“I promise.” Miyako reached for her own handkerchief and compact, checked herself in the mirror and sighed. “Don’t forget to eat, Usagi.”

Her mouth open to say she’d never do that, Usagi froze and blushed at the sound of her stomach growling. “Ahh... I won’t, Miyako-chan.”

* * *

As usual, the girls from Hisakawa’s section left in batches - besides a girl who might occasionally be allowed to go home early - and the break room was never more than slightly crowded with shopping attendants collecting their lunch purses and coats for the walk home (or, just as often with the unmarried girls in their twenties, a karaoke bar or a movie). Usagi checked the rack while she collected her own coat, but Miyako’s was already missing, and she tried not to let the worry bother her too much. If Miyako needed help, she would ask. At least, Usagi hoped she would.

“Is everything all right, Usagi?” Rie’s hand touched Usagi’s shoulder. “You look concerned.”

“It will be all right. I was only wishing I could have said good night to Inoue-san.” Reaching up to squeeze Rie’s hand, Usagi shook off the gloomy thoughts and smiled. “And you? How are your family?”

“My brother did well on his last test,” Rie replied. “Also, I am more lively at home because I am less worried. Noriko-san is a very good manager, and I am happy with how she has settled the trouble there was with upper management.”

A little glow of satisfaction worked its way into Usagi’s heart, and her smile felt as if it might hurt her face a little. “I understand that in recognition of how very diligent you are, you will receive a very high evaluation this season.” An evaluation like that meant a much larger bonus, which as far as Usagi was concerned could not have been more deserved, but it would be rude and presumptuous to say so.

Rie blushed, nodding happily. “That is very exciting.”

“You will spend at least a little on your happiness?” Usagi prompted gently as she picked up Rie’s coat to help the older girl into it.

Rie shrugged her shoulders, settling the coat in place. “I promise I will, Usagi. There are some books I’ve been wanting to read… I’m going to pick them up.”

“Good!” Hugging Rie lightly, Usagi smiled up at her and then passed along the proper umbrella while she collected her own. “‘The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid,’” she recited carefully in English, then giggled at Rie’s expression. “It was in a book Mamoru was reading a few weeks ago. He read it to me.”

“Sempai… Honda-san…” Sakiko’s voice came from the door, surprised and slightly breathless. “I did not know you were still… sorry…”

“It’s okay!” Usagi squeezed Rie one more time, then bounded over to Sakiko and hugged the blushing girl as well. “I was just telling Rie to take care of herself and horrifying her with my English pronunciation. Please don’t let us stop you from getting your things.”

For some reason Sakiko’s blush deepened, and she giggled quietly. “I don’t want to interrupt.”

“Silly kohai,” Usagi tsked, grinning softly. “How am I going to walk you to the train if you just stand there?”

“Oh! I’m sorry.” Sakiko bowed quickly before rushing over to her bento box, drawing a quiet laugh from Rie. Behind Sakiko, Usagi shrugged her shoulders in a slightly exaggerated way. _What can I do, Rie-chan?_

For some reason, that only made Rie laugh harder.

“I’m ready, sempai,” Sakiko said, glancing at Rie and biting her lip. “Thank you for your help today, Honda-san.”

“Take care, Usagi. Wakahisa.” Rie waved to them as she stepped out the door, still giggling quietly, and Usagi buried her smile in her gloves. It was so good to see Rie feeling happy enough to laugh.

Though Sakiko was biting her lip, she was also smiling as she watched the door close behind Rie. “Was I that silly?”

“No, not so silly.” Usagi reached out and rubbed the girl’s back soothingly. “I need to go down to the basement before we leave to pick up some groceries. I gave them my list this morning before I started work and asked them to leave everything ready for me at the end of the day.”

“Can I get some milk while we’re down there?” Sakiko asked. “We ran out at home this morning.”

“I don’t see why not,” Usagi said. The grocery was officially closed, of course, but the staff would still be cleaning and it was only a carton of milk. “We’ll ask them together, Saki-chan.”

“Thank you, sempai,” Sakiko said, bowing again. “Is Honda-san all right?”

They spent the five floors of stairs down to the grocer (which had to be handled carefully in their professional heels) discussing the finer points of Honda Rie’s emotional well-being and standing in the company, and they still hadn’t quite finished when Usagi hushed Sakiko and knocked on the door to the grocery. A young man opened it and then smiled and bowed slightly, which Usagi returned. “Tsukino-san, please wait here while I bring your things. Thank you for trusting us to choose for you.”

“Thank you for taking such trouble for me.” Usagi bowed again, this time more deeply, then straightened up and smiled. “Would you please also bring some milk for Wakahisa-san? It would be very kind.”

“Ah....” he temporized, stealing a look at Sakiko, then bowed again. “Please wait a moment. I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Kagome-san.” Usagi threw in another deep bow of her own, waiting until the door was closed to straighten up and giggle. “He’s so sweet. He’ll definitely get you your milk, Saki-chan.”

“You are amazing, sempai.” Sakiko’s eyes were so wide it looked as if she might tip over. “I don’t think he would have gotten it, if I’d tried to ask.”

“If you ask for little things often, they get to know you and then are happy to do extra things if you ask,” Usagi explained patiently. Giving good advice, after all, was part of being a good sempai.

“But don’t they feel troubled when you first start?”

“A little, but they get past it if you ask with conviction.” Usagi lowered her voice conspiratorially. “It works on boyfriends, too.”

Sakiko’s blush was suddenly back, and she stammered for a moment before finally saying, “Does it work when your boyfriend tries on you?”

A blush heated Usagi’s cheeks, and she knew she must be grinning like an idiot but she just couldn’t care. Thinking of Mamo-chan just made her so happy. “Mamoru hardly ever asks me for anything. I hope it’s because I take good care of him.”

“I’m sure it is. You take care of everyone,” Sakiko said, glancing away.

“Saki-chan...” Usagi started, but then the door opened and there was the business of bowing and thanking Kagome for his help and collecting her groceries (plus the milk for Sakiko, of course). By the time all of that was done, it seemed too awkward to ask what the other girl had been thinking of, so Usagi settled for walking up the stairs to the street with her in companionable silence.

“The manga arrived,” Sakiko said suddenly. “My friend is glad you’re interested in it and hopes you enjoy it.”

“The mang... oh!” The blush was back, and Usagi would have hidden her face in her hands except that they were full of groceries. The best she could do was hunch a little behind the bundles and bag. “Thank you, kohai. I am sure I will enjoy... ah, I mean, that I will find reading them pleasant.” Oh, that didn’t sound any better.

Sakiko produced eight issues of doujinshi from her bag, each with a remarkably well-illustrated cover image of Rei and Ami staring into each other’s eyes, touching hands, or, in the case of the final issue, kissing: Ami’s hand on the back of Rei’s neck while Rei’s rested on Ami’s hips. Usagi was definitely blushing terribly now, and it was a little difficult to get the manga stored in a way that wasn’t obvious but was still safe without dropping either her groceries or her dignity. She did finally manage it, though, and bowed as best she could under the circumstances. “Thank you, Saki-chan. They seem very beautiful and sincere.”

“They need to be. The Sailor Senshi keep us all safe… fight the criminals and protect us. I think… thinking about them. It’s hope. Hoping they’re as happy as they make sure we all have the chance to be.”

The way Sakiko said it - with such forthright sincerity, her heart in her eyes - made Usagi’s soul ache and her eyes try to fill with tears. _Everyone, I wish I knew how to tell you this. You try so hard, and to know that you make a sweet and innocent girl feel this way...._ “Thank you, Sakiko,” she whispered, taking a firm grip on her groceries to accommodate a deeper bow. “I know they are proud to fight for you.”

“I want to live up to them,” Sakiko said quietly, folding her hands together in front of her. “I hope I do, someday.”

“It seems certain to me. But please forgive me, because my train will be here in a moment and I need to make Mamoru dinner tonight.” Usagi smiled, then bowed and turned away before Sakiko could see the glistening in her eyes.

The train was not completely crowded, and so she was able to sit and compose herself during the ride. Unfortunately, it also provided time to remember that she had never found a moment to call Minako during her day and to feel a fresh embarrassment at leaving her so suddenly after her general had been kind enough to hold her all night. It was unacceptable, and she promised herself that she would call Minako as soon as she finished eating dinner with Mamoru. She would absolutely not be distracted from it, not even by his kisses - she would stand by the decision resolutely.

The walk home was clear and bright and crisp, without a cloud in the sky, and she smiled in spite of her chilled cheeks while she worked her keys out of her pocket and got the door open without disturbing her groceries further. “ _Tadaima!_ ”

“Welcome home, Usagi,” Luna called from the stairs, and a moment later the cat trotted into view. “How was work?”

“Very busy. Also, a man was bothering Miyako and I don’t approve.” Usagi carefully eased out of her heels and into her house-shoes, then carried the groceries into the kitchen. “Is Mamoru home yet?”

“Yes. He is in the library studying. Is Miyako all right?” Luna followed Usagi into the kitchen, but stayed off the counter while Usagi worked on putting food away and getting out the cookware for dinner at the same time.

“She will be, I think, but she doesn’t want to talk about why she doesn’t want to involve security. I made her promise to let me help, so I’ll make sure it’s all right. I was thinking _kushiyaki_ tonight as the main course for dinner. Does that sound good?”

“It sounds very good. Will there be beef?” Luna licked her lips at the thought.

Usagi smiled, winking down at her cat with playful relish. “Will it make you very happy if I tell you that beef was on a special sale today, so I got enough for two dinners?”

“It will let me stop tasting my morning,” Luna replied, leaping onto the table. “Which, apart from your breakfast, was more salty and bitter than sweet. Perhaps a little sour, as well.”

“Was Mina-chan all right? She wasn’t upset that I had to leave, was she?” It was important to focus on her cooking, so Usagi did. That the smoke from the oil in her cooking pan was a good excuse to cover for the sudden threat of fresh tears had nothing to do with her diligence.

“Minako was lovely. It was her friend’s arrival that spoiled my morning.” Luna drew her lips back, showing her teeth. “I don’t know why she puts up with him.”

“Awww. Artemis-kun isn’t so bad, Luna.” The momentary tightness in her chest lifted, Usagi actually laughed while she spiced the peanut oil and cut her long beans. “And he has been her friend a long time.”

“The longer he’s your friend, the less not so bad he becomes,” Luna said, sitting on the counter.

Usagi giggled into the back of her hand and stole a look at Luna between stirring the beans. “You just don’t like not being the only cat who gets treats.”

“That accusation is without merit and I will not dignify it with a response.”

Just smiling - because that was really the most effective way to make Luna quietly nuts - Usagi went back to preparing dinner for her fiancee. She hummed a little song to herself while she worked on grilling the beef, taking special care to waft fumes of it in Luna’s direction while she added teriyaki sauce to it.

As Usagi worked, the sound of Luna’s typing started from the kitchen table - she had apparently brought her laptop out of wherever it hid when she wasn’t using it. “You’ve been a good cook for the last year or so, Usagi, but you’re still getting better.”

“Thank you, Luna. I wish you could convince my mother of that. She still won’t let me near her kitchen,” Usagi sighed.

“Maybe we should invite her over for a holiday,” Luna suggested. “Then she would have to eat your food.”

“And spend time with Mamoru. That would be a good idea.” Usagi prodded the meat, lips pursed thoughtfully. “You don’t think she’d be disappointed?”

“I think your _yakitori_ is better than your mother’s.” Luna continued her typing, but Usagi could feel her eyes anyway. “And your roast duck is something she never would have thought of in the first place.”

“It’s only your favorite because I let you have the carcass,” Usagi said, but she didn’t mean it - her heart was too warm not to smile with her happiness.

She took the beef off the stove and moved it to the serving plate, followed by her beans in their own plate and the rice in its bowl. A plain meal, but there was plenty of beef and it would make both Luna and Mamoru happy, so she was prepared to consider it a success. “Luna,” she said while she started carrying the platters to the table one at a time, “will you tell him that dinner is ready?”

“Of course,” Luna said, leaping from the table. “Could you move my laptop while I do?”

“Yes!” She took care of pouring the hot water into the teapot first, then carried the teapot out to the table and Luna’s computer around into the small den across the counter from the kitchen. Her apron went back on the hook just as Mamoru came down the stairs, and she offered him a bow of greeting and a playful smile. “Dinner is ready, beloved.”

“So I see. Is that beef teriyaki?” he asked, already smiling.

“It was on sale,” she demured, but couldn’t stop her joy from shining in her eyes. “Please enjoy it.”

Luna brushed past Mamoru’s leg, jumping back to the table to join them in their meal. “ _Itadakimasu!_ ”

Usagi reached for her _hashi_ , but her communicator beeped softly before she finished her fourth bite of the beef. _Not fair,_ she wanted to complain, but she was already answering it before the thought could get her attention. “Here.”

“Princess, could you and Luna meet us at the game center?” Minako asked. Her voice was winded, and she sounded nervous. “It’s not an emergency, but please come soon.”

“Of course. I’ll come at once.” Usagi stood and shut off the communicator in the same motion, then bowed to Mamoru again. “Please forgive me for leaving the meal this way."

“Should I...?”

He started to stand, but she shook her head and waved him back down. “No, please eat and focus on your studies. Minako would have said if it was urgent. And Luna,” she went on, before her partner could hide the mournful look she was giving her food, “please eat before it gets cold. You know the way - I’ll just go ahead.”

“I’ll go with you,” Luna insisted. “I’ll eat later.”

“Don’t be stubborn. There’s no need for both of us to hurry,” Usagi called from the front hall, coat over one arm and bag over her shoulder.

“Very well. I’ll meet you there,” Luna said. “But I won’t be far behind!”

 _I know you won’t._ Usagi pulled on her shoes and opened the door, shivering a little with the cold, and wrapped herself up in her coat, hat and scarf as she started up the street past one warmly lit house after another. Everyone inside, everyone eating dinner and trusting the Sailor Senshi to keep them safe. She squeezed her hands inside her gloves and promised herself again that she wouldn’t let them down.

It was hard to sustain determination through a cold walk, a twenty minute ride on a somewhat crowded train and another equally cold walk, but she did it (though not without a stop at a vending machine in the train station). The arcade was closed, but the doors opened for her with a touch. So did the stairs under the Sailor V machine, and she hurried down them still in the process of taking off her coat. “Everyone? Are you all right?”

“Mostly.”

The _Senshi_ of Love knelt near the computer terminal, where she was checking a bandage on Ami’s arm, and Usagi rushed over to take Ami’s uninjured hand in her own. “Are you sure you’re okay, Ami-chan? That looks like it hurt....”

“It’s a little cut,” Ami said, but winced as Minako tightened the bandage. “I’ll be fine by morning.”

“It was my fault. If I’d been where I should have been, I could have protected you.” Leaving her quiet conversation with Rei, Makoto crossed the room and crouched down next to Usagi. “Please forgive me, Ami.”

Ami drew Makoto down into a one-armed hug. “If I’d realized it would have claws, I wouldn’t have gotten that close,” she said quietly. “It’s no one’s fault.”

“What happened?” Usagi stood up and looked around, settling on Mars as the least occupied and folding her arms. “Please explain, Rei-chan.”

Elegant and unruffled as ever, Rei bowed formally. “The Eternity System alerted us to a small dark energy disturbance, and Sailor Venus went to investigate. When she discovered two monsters in the Nintendo distribution center, she contacted us for safety. We took them by surprise, but they were stronger than we expected and the fighting became very close. No one was hurt except Mercury, but one of the monsters escaped into the sewers. It may try to make trouble again.”

“I’ve already started a scan for it.” Minako folded her hands in her lap, looking up from her seat at Usagi. “But it isn’t very strong, and moves quickly.”

“It will turn up again. You all were very brave and you did well. I wish I’d been there with you all, but I’m so very glad to see you all safe,” Usagi said, refusing to let the tears in her heart into her eyes while she looked at each of her guardians - her friends - in turn. Rei accepted her approval with a regal nod that Usai almost envied, while Ami’s eyes filled with proud tears. Makoto smiled shyly.

Minako raised her head and echoed Makoto’s smile with one of her own. “We will protect our Princess and the Legendary Silver Crystal.”

“Oh!” Usagi’s cheeks heated, but she kept her head high and nodded her acceptance of the promise. It was the only way to honor Minako’s sincerity properly.

There was a moment of silence, of lingering looks and the five of them just standing near each other, and then Makoto started to laugh. Rei and Ami stared. Minako raised an eyebrow. Usagi started giggling just because it always made her happy to hear Makoto laugh, but she must have looked as confused as the other three were skeptical, because Makoto blushed and ran her hand through her hair. “Ah... I was just thinking that it’s been forever since we were all together at once and I’m almost glad for the monsters tonight. I mean, not your arm, Ami....”

“No, I know what you mean,” Ami said, suddenly smiling. “It has been too long.”

“We should do this more often. Apart from Ami’s arm.” Rei took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the main console and adjusted her skirt, and Usagi felt a fresh blush start at how elegant her friend was. Not to mention beautiful, which went without saying when it came to Rei.

Subject change. She needed a subject change before she started gawking like a love-lorn schoolgirl. “How is everyone’s studying?”

Ami blushed, saying nothing, but Minako spoke quickly. “Better than I expected and worse than I hoped. Applications are going well, and I’m making my list of school exams with Ami.”

“Work hard,” Usagi advised, squeezing Mina-chan’s shoulder. “I know you can do it.”

“I know,” Minako said, her eyes shining up at Usagi happily. “Artemis stays on me about my studies, too.”

“Luna would if I was in school. She provides valuable guidance about my housekeeping and when I leave for work instead,” Usagi said with what she personally thought was an admirably straight face.

“I don’t quite recall how I remembered everything I needed every day before Artemis,” Minako admitted, and everyone laughed a little ruefully - even Ami.

Usagi opened her mouth to say something else, but then her stomach rumbled loudly and she blushed. “Ah... I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “I didn’t eat dinner before I left home....”

“Maybe we should get some food out?” Ami suggested. “Together.”

The way Usagi lit up with her smile felt like she might actually be glowing a little. “That sounds wonderful!”

It was. They all ate too much _katsu,_ told stories on classmates and coworkers, laughed at old jokes and rattled on about the latest news. Luna called just as they were starting the meal, wondering where everyone was, and Usagi had to admit to forgetting she was coming. Everyone smiled, though, and Luna only sighed and told her she lacked awareness twice before hanging up to go home. No one else gave her a hard time about it, not even Rei; they ordered drinks instead. After a couple of small cups of sake, Usagi even told them about the _doujinshi_ hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser at home.

“Wait, so me and… Ami?” Rei looked at her sake cup, as though unsure if she’d had too much or too little.

“Uh-huh.” Usagi buried her giggles in both hands. “The artist was very passionate about the material. It shows.”

“I’ve seen those,” Minako said after swallowing a mouthful of ramen. “I read one about myself and Makoto, once. It was inspired.”

Coughing on her sake, Makoto hammered on the table a couple of times while she coughed her throat clear. “What?”

“Not that I would ever read anything like that,” Rei put in grandly, her cheeks hot with the sake, “but I would like to know what was in it.”

“Well…” Minako considered for a moment. “It understated my height a bit… just a couple of inches. Then spent a lot of time on where on Makoto I was eye level with.”

Ami looked between Minako and Makoto for a moment, measuring with her eyes, then turned a deep crimson. “Oh…”

“The artist seemed to like putting me on my toes a bit. Just enough to kiss where I naturally looked.”

“That,” Makoto declared firmly, “is very naughty of them. I ought to have a, y’know, talk with her. Set her straight.”

“Somehow, I think a visit from Sailor Jupiter wouldn’t be as discouraging as you would hope,” Rei advised over the last of her current cup of sake.

“No?” Ami asked, confused.

“The writer would probably just take the visit as inspiration,” Minako said. “Then the next volume would include some of the things Makoto said to chastise her.”

Usagi buried her face in her hands, laughter shaking her shoulders, and everyone turned to stare. It took her a minute, but she finally managed to get the words out. “It’s just that I can imagine Makoto giving one of her stern looks and brief, to the point lectures...”

“And she’d spend the whole time imagining Makoto giving me that same lecture,” Minako giggled. “Except with less clothes on.”

“Stop it,” Makoto muttered, though she was smiling too. Everyone let it drop, though periodically someone would blush or giggle at what was probably a naughty thought, and for a little while they just sat and soaked in the companionable silence.

Finally, Makoto cleared her throat. “Minako, you should walk Rei home. She’s had a little much. Do we need to send Ami to chaperone you?” A smile broke through, just a little smugness at getting the last word, and Usagi pressed her hands to her face to hide her blushing.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Minako said with a grin that wasn’t quite predatory. “I’ll get her home safe.”

“I’ll go along too,” Ami said hastily, and Minako’s face fell in mock-despair for a whole ten seconds before an even more wicked grin broke out.

“No,” Usagi and Ami and Makoto all said together, and the _Senshi_ of Love laughed at all of them while she helped Rei up from the table and carted her off toward the door, Ami hurrying after them in their wake.

Makoto and Usagi traded a look and then broke down into giggles. Finally, reluctantly, Usagi took Mamoru’s watch from her pocket and checked the time. Then she blushed fiercely. “It’s so late....”

“We should go home…” Makoto stretched, still laughing. “How late is it? I don’t want to miss the last train…”

“ _Ano_....” Usagi turned the watch over in her hands a couple of times, still blushing, then held it up. “It’s very late, Mako-chan.”

Makoto blinked at the watch, then joined Usagi in blushing. “A little late to worry about that, then…”

“Yeah...” Usagi reached up and scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed. Luna was going to be so unhappy with her, and she’d have to tell Mamoru that she wouldn’t be there for breakfast when she....

No. No, that was not going to happen. She was an adult woman and she was not going to show up at her mother’s door at an unspeakable hour of the morning to ask if she could sleep in her old room tonight. She’d walk to Makoto’s shop first, seven kilometers or not.

Except she wasn’t wearing her walking shoes....

Makoto gazed up at the moon for a long moment, biting her lip thoughtfully, her blush deepening. Finally, Usagi cleared her throat. “We could order a cab,” she said tentatively.

“I was thinking that.” Makoto played with the cute rose charm on the zipper of her purse. “But it’s so expensive....”

“It is,” Usagi agreed. Hesitated again. Folded her hands in her lap. “We could stay in a hotel for the night?”

“I think that might be best,” Makoto said, glancing away from Usagi again. Maybe she was doing math in her head again? “And take the first train back.”

“I might be in time to throw some food together for Mamoru that way.” Hanging her head a little, Usagi stole looks at Makoto through her lashes. “I’m sorry to inconvenience you this way, Mako-chan.”

“It’s… not a bother.”

Makoto’s voice was shy. Girlish. It made Usagi smile. “You’re so sweet, Mako-chan,” she said while she reached over to give Makoto’s hand a quick squeeze. “Why don’t you get our coats, and I’ll call Luna?”

“I’ll do that.” Makoto stood and walked briskly toward the coatroom, and Usagi watched her go. How resolute Makoto always was when she decided to do something always inspired her to want to be a better leader, a better friend, a better everything.

Even if she couldn’t remember to watch the time so she wouldn’t miss the last train.

 _Speaking of which, the really painful part...._ Usagi closed her eyes and touched her communicator. “Luna.... um... I’m sorry to wake you....”

“Hm? Usagi?” The squeak of Luna’s yawn came across the communicator.

“Our dinner ran late,” she explained as quickly as she could without words running over each other, “and I’m staying with Makoto tonight. Everything’s fine, but please tell Mamoru I’m very sorry to be away tonight when he wakes up in the morning. And that he should warm some catfood up for you. Need to go, okay?”

“Is everything all right? You’re just running late?” Luna asked, then calmed down and sighed. “I’ll tell him. You should watch the time more carefully in the future, though.”

Usagi groaned and slumped against the table. “Yes, Luna. Everything’s fine. I’m very sorry.”

“Just sleep well, Usagi. And tell Makoto hello for me.”

“I will. Good night, Luna.” She turned off the communicator and then just stayed there for a minute, head against her arms, trying to muster the resolve to stand up. _Why is being mature so hard?_

“Usagi, would you like me to help you with your coat?” Makoto was back, standing behind her patiently, waiting on her. Usagi’s cheeks heated with embarrassment, and she got to her feet with a babble of agreement trapped under her tongue. She managed to keep it to a little nod, easing into her coat with Makoto’s help, and whispered a quick thank-you while she got her scarf, gloves and hat on. It was a little rude not to wait until they were outside, but Makoto wouldn’t let her go out without being bundled up because she might get cold. Makoto always wanted to look after her.

The thought finally chased the awkwardness out of Usagi’s chest, and her smile felt bright and right when she slid her arm through Makoto’s to start the walk back toward the station and the hotels near it. “Thank you, Mako-chan.”

“Of course, Usagi,” Makoto said with a wide smile. “You’re my friend.”

“You’re so cool and strong and sweet. No wonder everyone loves your shop. I bet all the bankers tell their friends that they ought to shop with the glamorous girl with the rose earrings.” Usagi leaned against Makoto’s arm happily, giggling at the thought of just how awed those bankers probably sounded.

“I don’t know anything about that.” Makoto’s blush was back, and her arm slipped around Usagi as they walked. “I think they just like my sweets…”

“Your sweets are the best. And your flowers, and your soba, and....” Usagi got lost on the topic for a couple of minutes, because really she could have talked about Makoto’s cooking and crafting skills for _days._ But she actually stopped before the end of the block; there was something wrong, and she stared up at Makoto so intently that after a few seconds the taller girl actually missed a step.

“Mako-chan,” she said in her most earnest but intractable tone, “you know that you can tell me anything, don’t you?”

“Um…” Makoto paused, looking up at the sky. “The whole thing is ridiculous.”

“Well, then, you should definitely tell me and not Luna or Minako. They might lecture you for lacking awareness.” Usagi leaned into Makoto’s shoulder and giggled softly, but she kept her gaze intent.

“I would never even imagine telling them about this,” Makoto said, blushing lightly. “They would give me such a look…”

Usagi squeezed her arm. “Well, then, it’s settled. Tell me everything and I’ll solve your problem. I solve everyone’s problems at work now - I’m getting very good at it.”

“You’ve always been good at solving people’s problems,” Makoto said as they passed under an elevated railway. “All right… but promise not to laugh at me?”

“I absolutely will not,” Usagi promised with the utmost solemnity.

“Well… it started with a conversation with Mr. Sanada… the baker who runs the place near the park? He asked me how things were going, and somehow he became convinced that my boyfriend was doing well when all I meant was that I’d had one nice conversation with a boy in the neighborhood. Now, everyone thinks I have a boyfriend…” Makoto swallowed hard.

“That is inconvenient.” Nodding sympathetically, Usagi waited a decent interval of a few seconds before pouncing on the key information. “Is that boy cute?”

“Well, yes, but he’s also dating the girl from the cafe,” Makoto said, sighing. “And all we’ve had is one nice conversation.”

Usagi sighed, too, because it was disappointing and she was sure Makoto felt for the missed connection. Her Mako-chan was so sentimental and romantic about things like that. “That’s sad. He’s very unfortunate.”

“He seems happy with his girlfriend.” Makoto shook her head. “But the problem is the dinner… Mr. Sanada’s organization is holding a dinner for the local business owners, and I need to go to make connections. But the invite is plus one.”

“Oh!” Usagi winced in sympathetic embarrassment. If everyone thought Makoto had a boyfriend and she went to such an important event without him, they would probably start rumors about her not being able to keep a man or say he obviously didn’t think she was important enough. Or worse, think she’d lied about having one in the first place!

“So I need a date,” Makoto said, biting her lip. “And I’ve never been any good at finding dates. And the dinner is tomorrow night!”

“That’s so terrible.” Shaking her head and sharing Makoto’s frustration, Usagi stroked her precious friend’s arm soothingly and walked on a little further, staring up past the streetlamps at the dim stars and the faint silver crescent of the moon. _What can she do? Poor Mako-chan.... It’s only for one night, but it has to be the right sort of person. He needs to make a good impression, to make sure that they all understand what a valuable person she is and how much love she has to give for everyone....._

They walked on a little further, Usagi taking three steps to Makoto’s two, and then the Guardian of Love and Justice began to smile. She had an idea.

She had a wonderful, brilliant idea.

“Don’t worry, Mako-chan,” she declared firmly, stopping them there and leaning up on her toes to give Makoto a quick kiss on the cheek. “I know just where to find you a boyfriend for tomorrow night. Everything will be perfect.”

Makoto froze where she was, eyes wide. “Usagi… you know what to do?”

“Of course!” Usagi laughed happily and patted Makoto’s gloved hand with hers, then started off down the street again with the taller girl firmly in tow. All she needed to do was call work in the morning and arrange to leave early, and make sure Mamo-chan didn’t mind her being busy for the evening. But he wouldn’t, because he’d want Mako-chan to get out of this trouble as she much as she did.

“Oh…” Makoto breathed a sigh of relief, finally smiling. “I’ll leave it in your hands, then.”

“All I need to know is what you want him to wear....”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who happens to be curious, the quote Usagi recited to Rie is from _Northanger Abbey_. Mamoru just seems like a Jane Austin fan to me.


End file.
